Starless Night
by Rorrim J. Tori
Summary: "Rukia… I didn't want to frighten you. And I'd really hoped that I could've kept it a secret for longer." Ichigo turned slowly to face her, brown eyes glinting slightly, two fangs protruding slightly from under his upper lip. "I am a monster…" All he wanted was to live a normal life with his brother, was that too much to ask for? Vampire AU
1. Chapter 1

Rukia stared at the open door of the empty small house, finding the silence unnerving. Ichigo had said that he would be there soon, and that she should not wait for him but should just go inside. So there she stood, book clutched to her small chest, trying to keep her heartbeat steady.

She herself wasn't even sure what was the cause of her unease. 'It's not like you've never been to his apartment before...' Rukia mentally scolded herself for her being afraid of nothing. Yet she felt a sense of dark foreboding as she crossed threshold and flicked on the light.

• x x X * X x x •

Ichigo glanced at the clock while packing the rest of his things. He'd stayed for a while after class to talk to his teacher about an upcoming project but ended up losing track of time. _'Rukia's going to be waiting for me… I promised her that I would meet her at 4:30. Darn, she won't be happy.'_ He thought to himself. Sure he had told her that he might be late, but he cringed slightly at the thought of her kicking him again for another stupid reason. An upset midget with the ability to kick hard was not something to be taken lightly. Even so, he couldn't help but smile slightly, imagining Rukia's stubborn pout as she informs him on how rude it is to keep a lady waiting or something like that. With that thought, he picked up the rest of his things and headed out.

Pulling out his cell phone he turned it on to find six missed calls. But before he was able to check who had called, the cell phone went off. "Hello?" He answered.

Expecting it to be Rukia calling, he was surprised to hear his brother. "Finally you pick up! Took you long enough…"

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked immediately.

There was a huff from the other end, "Why do you always assume that I'm calling because I want something? Hm? Aren't I allowed to call my brother just to say 'hi'?"

"Idiot, you always want something whenever you call." Ichigo sighed

"Heh, you know me too well. Anyway, can you stop by the store, or someplace that sells food? I'm hungry and we don't have anything to eat."

"Why don't you just raid the fridge? I'm certain Yuzu wouldn't mind if you ate some leftovers."

"Huh?"

Ichigo stopped walking "Aren't you at Dad's house?"

"Uh, no."

"Why not? I thought you were going to spend the day there."

"Didn't feel like it. Hey, did you finish off the rest of the chicken?"

Ichigo frowned with unease as he noticed the odd edge to his brother's voice. "When was the last time you ate anything?"

There was a long pause that only added to Ichigo's worry. The reply was quiet and rushed."Two days ago."

"Two days?! You haven't eaten for two days!?" Ichigo sighed, massaging his temple to try to ward off the oncoming headache. "Ok I'll get you something, but you need to stop starving yourself. Where are you?"

"Ok, great! Now, could you not buy from that little corner store that you went to last time? The clerk was being a real pain..."

Worry continued to swell inside of Ichigo as his brother ignored the question and continued talking. "If you're not at Dad's then where are you?"

His brother continued to ignore him "Oh! Actually, stop by Urahara's. That creep still owes me for-"

"Shiro! Stop ignoring me and answer the question! Where. Are. You." Ichigo was practically yelling at this point, anger and worry crashing over him in waves as various situations played themselves out in his mind, each one worse than the previous one.

"Chill out bro, I'm at home. That's why I asked you to get me something." There was a pause and then, slightly confused, his brother asked "Hey, Ichigo... You home already? That was fast."

Also confused now, Ichigo answered "No, why?"

"Someone just turned on a light down the hall."

Ichigo frowned, not liking the dark, heavy, tone of voice his brother suddenly started using. 'Who would be...?' His eyes snapped wide as he mentally cursed himself out. _'Rukia! I told her to wait for me at the apartment! I thought Shiro was out today... Oh this is bad... This is bad!'_ Snapping himself out of his panicked daze he yelled into the phone again, "Wait! Shiro! Don't-!" But the phone had already been hung up.

Breaking into a sprint, Ichigo cursed under his breath while dialing Rukia's cell phone number. Cursing even more when it went straight to the voicemail. 'Rukia... please be okay. Please, let me not be too late!'

• x x X * X x x •**  
**

Closing the door behind her, Rukia looked around at her immediate surroundings. It was a comfy, small, place (though rather large as far as apartments went). The dark wood floor and doorframe contrasted greatly with the white walls, but Rukia quite liked the effect it had. The door entered directly into a small living room. A couch and a coffee table sat in front of a large television mounted on the wall. A hallway on the far right side of the room stretched out to several other places in the house. In the corner across from the door was a rather antique looking desk, facing the wall. It seemed out of place in the otherwise modern room.

Curiosity drew her over to the desk for some reason. She'd been invited over several times by Ichigo for various school-related reasons. So she wasn't quite sure why this desk, which certainly had been there before, suddenly seemed so fascinating. A piece of paper the desk specifically caught her attention. It seemed to be a rather formally written letter, judging by the elegant script used. However she realized that it was written in a language she had never seen before. At the bottom someone had scribbled something in blue pen. This writing was extremely sloppy and hardly legible, but she was sure that it was in the same language as the letter itself.

"Don't you know it's rude to enter peoples' houses without knocking and then go reading their mail?"

Startled, Rukia dropped the book she had been holding and snapped her head around to see who was there. The sudden movement causing her foot to catch on the desk chair, sending her falling to the ground. Everything went black for a second as her head collided with the floor. Looking up, she saw the blurry silhouette of Ichigo.

Head throbbing from the impact with the floor, she opened her mouth to yell. "Ichigo you idiot! First you make me wait here all by myself! Then you decide to scare me by sneaking up on me! And after all that you have the nerve to let me fall without even trying to help me up afterwards!? I probably got a concussion from that!" she stopped her rant, her vision clearing enough to realize that the person leaning over her was not Ichigo. Whoever they were, they looked like Ichigo, only paler and with longer, white, hair pulled loosely into a low ponytail. A pair of dark sunglasses shielded his eyes from view, prompting Rukia's first thought of this new, not-Ichigo person to be: _'Who wears shades inside?'_

The person laughed, sending shivers down Rukia's spine and bringing back the sense of dread that had filled her before. "Who are you?" She said as flatly, trying not to show the fear that she felt.

"That's not very nice to say either. I should be asking you the same question, seeing as how you just walked into my house and all," the person said, smirking in a playful way that made Rukia all the more unnerved.

Against her better judgement, she answered "I am Rukia Kuchiki, and I did not just walk into your house! I'm just waiting here until Ichigo—"

"Ah… you know my brother." He clicked his tongue then sighed, thinking _'Well that complicates things slightly...'_ Looking down at the girl again, he noticed her watching him cautiously.

"…Brother?" She asked skeptically. 'That would certainly explain why he looks like Ichigo. But I didn't know he had a twin.'

Smiling again he nodded. "Yeah, Ichigo and I are brothers. It would have been nice for him to have informed me that he invited company over." He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the growing pain in his empty stomach. _'Hurry up Ichigo...'_

Rukia instantly felt guilty for being so rude. "O-oh. I'm sorry. Ichigo never mentioned..."

"Not surprising. I tend to jump around from place to place a lot, plus I'm just not very social." He took a breath before offering a friendly smile. "So I guess I should introduce myself: Yoshiro Kurosaki. Though 'Shiro' is what most people call me. Either that or 'Shirosaki' if Ichigo's around and you want to be formal without being confusing. And yes, I am an albino." He lifted up his shades, displaying reddish irises. Rukia said nothing, which he seemed glad about,

Seeing that Ichigo had an identical twin brother seemed strange to Rukia and she felt quite unsure about it all. Her head still hurt a lot and she was starting to believe that she actually did get a concussion. Ignoring the pain and the uncertainty she still felt, she reached up, certain that she could not stand on her own at that moment.

Shiro's mind was racing, telling himself that making contact with this girl could be dangerous with the state he was in._ 'But I want to make a good impression… I don't really understand why though. Besides, I'm just helping her stand up. what's the worst that can happen?'_ Throwing caution into the wind he grabbed her hand. The feeling of her pulse under his fingertips was maddening to him. His eyes fixed on her thin wrist as the sound of her heartbeat seemed to resonate through him. _'…Her heart is beating too fast… she's scared… terrified… I should stop… need to stop… stop… make it stop…'_ He tried desperately to breath slowly but it was a futile attempt. He winced slightly as a sharp pain ran through his stomach and his vision started to blur.

Rukia was currently completely confused and starting to feel scared again. As soon as Shiro had helped her up, he had locked up and seemed oblivious to her as she called his name to get his attention. His grip on her arm tightened and she realized that his breath had become shallow and raspy. She struggled to pull herself free from Shiro's grip but only managed to stumble back into the desk, the back of her hand catching the corner and scratching it. She frowned as a drop of blood ran slowly down her hand.

Shiro knew he was fighting a losing battle. He knew he was scaring Rukia to the point where she was shaking by not letting go of her wrist. _'But that smell… No! This is one of Ichigo's friends… Then again, a little couldn't hurt…'_

"Shiro!"

He blinked, finally hearing Rukia call his name. _'Just a bit more... I can hold on until Ichigo arrives. Then it will all be fine. Where is he!?'_ He laughed weakly, other hand subconsciously gripping across his abdomen. "Sorry Rukia I-" Before he finished his thought, the scent of blood reached him. His self-control snapped and, in a second, he had Rukia pinned against the wall.

Rukia winced again as she was roughly shoved back. Fear crashed over her, turning her insides to ice as she wondered what this maniac would do to her. Struggling furiously, she smacked him across the face sending the sunglasses flying. Her blood ran cold as his eyes, now a piercing, predatory, yellow-on-black, turned back on her. With his free hand he pinned her injured hand to the wall. She was completely vulnerable and that terrified her.

"Rukia…" his voice rasped with an inhuman echo. A deranged smile crept onto his face as he leaned in to whisper into her ear, "…you're bleeding." He slid his hand down her arm until he was holding her both her wrists. Then slowly brought her injured arm to his, planting a light kiss on the back of her scratched hand.

Lifting up his head, Rukia noticed a small drop of blood on his lower lip._ Her blood._ His tongue flicked out to taste the droplet, revealing unusually pointed teeth. Rukia shut her eyes, trying to make sense of it all. _'Why did I trust him when he said he was Ichigo's brother!? There was no way to prove what he was saying. There's no way this... thing could be related to Ichigo! This guy could be a serial killer, or something. But he did seem friendly… Then why why did he suddenly pin me against the wall like this? What happened!? What is he going to do!? Somebody help me!'_ Finally getting over some of the shock she screamed.

"Help me!"

A shadow of remorse flickered across Shiro's face before the sadistic smile returned. He leaned down slightly and licked the wound on the small girl's hand. An oddly bitter taste filled his mouth and his eyes snapped open in disgust. _'Ack- Why does it taste so terribl—Urf!'_ He grunted as something heavy collided with his side, knocking him away from Rukia and onto the ground.

Rukia blinked as the weight disappeared of her arms. Standing in front of her was Ichigo, looking nearly as frantic as she felt.

"Rukia, I'm so sorry. I got here as quickly as I could. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" His eyes shone with concern as he spoke.

"Ichigo! Behind you!" Rukia called as Shiro raised himself up. His eyes still glinted wildly and Rukia trembled slightly.

Ichigo sighed. 'What have you done to yourself this time, Shiro?' He lunged at his brother, tackling him to the floor where the two of them wrestled for a bit. Ichigo cursed as his brother bit down on his arm in protest, breaking the skin. He felt two distinct pricks of pain before his arm went numb. Pulling his arm free, Ichigo grabbed his brother under his chin as his other hand moved to the back of Shiro's head. With a swift motion, Ichido snapped his hands around. There was a single, loud, cracking sound before his brother fell limp beneath him.

He stood slowly, facing away from Rukia as he tried to slow his heavy breathing. "Rukia. You're hurt. You should go home."

Wide-eyed, she stared fearfully at the back of her friend's head, unable to move. "Y… you killed him… You just… killed him…" her voice was trembling and barely above a whisper. _'D-did he really just... kill his brother...? Ichigo...'_

Without turning Ichigo answered. "Don't worry, he will be fine. You should go home."

Rukia knew something was wrong. She could feel that her friend was different but she couldn't tell how. "W-what are you?"

He looked at his arm where it had been bitten. Already it was starting to heal over. "What am I? You don't want to know what I am. I'm sorry I never told you before… Rukia… I didn't want to frighten you. And I'd really hoped that I could've kept it a secret for longer." He turned slowly to face her, brown eyes glinting slightly, two fangs protruding slightly from under his upper lip. "I am a monster…"

It was all too much for Rukia, the pain in her head grew to overshadow any other thoughts. Darkness edged into her vision. She never even felt herself hit the floor.

* * *

And there it is, the start of my next story. Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger like that, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. This is my first time writing a longer, multi-chapter fanfic, so I hope it doesn't fail epically. I'm quite a busy person, and can't promise a day or anything like that. Nevertheless, I will try to upload chapters within reasonable time (especially if I left it as a cliffhanger). I already have up to chapter 4 written, so the next chapter will be uploaded the chapter 2 soon.

Special thanks to amulet1412 for beta reading and editing.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Comments, critiques, and questions are always appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Ichigo placed the unconscious Rukia on the couch, making sure she was comfortable before turning to his brother. With some effort Ichigo managed to drag the albino down to the basement, leaving him on a small mattress in the corner. All the while, Shiro's broken neck emitted soft popping snaps as the vertebrate mended themselves. Checking to make sure the mini fridge was well-stocked, he returned back upstairs to find Rukia was gone from her place on the couch.

_'…must've gone home. I hope she's well enough to make it.'_ Worry washed over him as he realized how close his friend had come to possibly being killed. _'If I had arrived a second later...'_

With a sigh he looked down at the injury on his left arm he had received from Shiro. The skin underneath the bite marks was purple and filled with fluid, making the skin swell in a grotesque manner. Sighing again, he headed to the small room at the end of the hall. The room was mostly empty and dimly lit. Next to a dresser, a sword hung on the wall. The small chain on the hilt jingled slightly as he removed the blade from the mounted sheath. He headed to the bathroom and sighed while turning on the faucet and placing his injured arm under the flow of warm water. He hated this, but it had to be done.

Bringing the blade up to the injury, he slid it sideways carefully, wincing as the cold metal reopened the bite wound. Blood mixed with a dark purple liquid streamed down his arm before being carried down the drain. With a frown, Ichigo noticed the skin had once again healed itself, trapping more purple liquid inside and still causing it to bulge. Without a second thought he once again cut into his arm, washing away everything. He repeated the process until no violet substance remained.

From the numerous cuts made to his arm, all but one had healed and vanished as if nothing ever happened. The last cut he had made had been deeper than the rest, and was still bleeding somewhat. Grabbing some gauze from the medicine cabinet, he wrapped his arm while walking back to the living room.

Ichigo picked up the TV remote and flipped through the channels, eventually settling on watching the news.

• x x X * X x x •

Shiro's eyes snapped open to the dull, gray ceiling of the basement. Confusion instantly filled his foggy mind. _'What am I doing here? Wasn't I-'_ his thought was cut off as he remembered what happened. He tried to sit up but the pain in his neck stopped him. So he waited a couple minutes until he could move. Taking a few 'juice' pouches from the mini fridge, he headed upstairs and joined his brother on the couch.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

It was Shiro who broke the silence. "…How badly did I lose it?"

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. "It wasn't pretty. But Rukia's okay."

His brother visibly relaxed. He rubbed his still sore neck and gave a light laugh. "You've gotten a lot better at doing that effectively."

Ichigo laughed a little bit too. "Practice makes perfect."

It was then that Shiro noticed the bandage on Ichigo's arm. Shiro tensed, knowing all too well what that meant. "Ichigo..."

"It's fine Shiro. I just—" his sentence was cut short as his brother tackled him, pinning Ichigo to the couch by his shoulders.

"You idiot! You promised!"

Ichigo was caught off guard by the worry and sorrow in the albino's eyes. "Shiro..."

"You promised me last time! You said it yourself, that if I ever bit you again, you would wait until someone was there with you before doing that!"

Pushing his brother off of him and sitting back up again, Ichigo smiled. Though his brother was a handful (and downright dangerous at times) he was glad Shiro cared about him and felt a small pang of guilt for breaking his promise. "Okay, I 100% promise that I will never do that again." But even as he said it, the words 'practice makes perfect' echoed through his mind. He sighed, looking at his brother. Shiro was staring much too intently at the TV; his eyes held buried pain and fear.

"What happened anyway, Shiro? Didn't the District Leader feed you?"

Shiro paused for a time. "Yes, but only when I arrived. Afterwards, well..." He abruptly stood and walked over to the desk in the corner, returning with the piece of paper with the foreign writing on it.

Ichigo stared at the letter for a few seconds, forcing his stubborn mind to translate the foreign language that it was written in. "Ichigo Kurosaki..." he read slowly and quietly, "It... has come to our attention... Gah! Shiro! You know I can't read this! Why do they even have to use that stupid 'ancient language' anyway? Just tell me what it says."

Without pausing, Shiro answered. "The Leader wants to speak with you. Something big is about to happen, and everyone want more people on their side. Stupid Yoruichi tried to enlist me into her court since I keep refusing to join a clan. I kinda stormed out and spent the last two days wandering around just trying to think."

A brief silence ensued, punctuated by Ichigo's cell phone buzzing. "Uh oh..." he said upon reading the text. "All that will have to wait. I have an urgent Council meeting to report to. And I'm pretty sure I know what it is about..."

Shiro's eyes widened. "When?"

"Right now." He stood silently, exiting the living room.

Shiro watched silently as Ichigo returned. This time carrying a black sword. Shiro wanted to say something, but realized there was nothing to say. So, he sat in silence for several seconds after his brother left before heading to his own room. He opened his closet and reached for a small box in the corner. The box itself was no bigger than his palm. He removed the lid carefully, revealing a small shard of white metal. Picking it up carefully, he winced as the still-sharpened edges bit into his fingers. He sighed as he looked at it, marveling at how the light danced beautifully off of it. After a few minutes he put it away in the corner of his closet. 'Please Ichigo... be safe.'

• x x X * X x x •

Ichigo stood in the center of one of the meeting rooms of the Council. It was an immense, cylindrical room with small alcoves set in the wall where the council members sat. The room was lit such that a person standing in the middle would not be able to make out the faces of the council members. To further the secrecy, the members in the alcove only referred to each other by the names of their swords. Ichigo found all of this utterly ridiculous as he was friends with a lot of the members and could recognize them by their voices. But rules were rules and though Ichigo himself was an honorary council member, he was not quite treated as such.

As people entered the small alcoves through doors in the backs, the room was slowly filled with the din of murmuring and shuffling about. Ichigo closed his eyes, trying to pinpoint the sounds of specific people. Instead, a different sound arose. One that sent a shiver down his spine. In the round room surrounded by people, the combined sound of their beating hearts created an amplified rhythm. Usually Ichigo refrained from focusing on this, choosing instead to push the sound to the back of his mind where it wouldn't bother him. But this room offered too good of a scenario: the people were too well spaced, acoustics too perfect, for him to ignore it. There was no way for him not to relax and let his acute hearing pick up the sound.

The sharp sound of a cane tapping ahead of him snapped Ichigo's attention forward, causing the sound of beating hearts to fade away. In the only lit alcove, Head Councilman Yamamoto sat, watching Ichigo intensely and speaking in an authoritative tone. "Are all designated council members present?" The question was met with various comments from unseen people sitting in dark alcoves.

Ichigo was certain that he heard Renji and possibly Toshiro.

Yamamoto continued, "Very well. I shall commence this meeting. Wielder of Zangetsu, Son of Isshin Kurosaki, Honorary council member, and Half-blood Vampire, Ichigo Kurosaki..."

_'So much for secrecy...'_ Ichigo thought, but he held his tongue.

"Place your sword on the ground in front of you."

He silently obeyed, laying down the blade then taking three steps back from it.

"Thank you. Now, straight to the point. You remember the oath you took in order to became a member of this Council, correct?"

"Yes. I pledged to commit my life to the protection of mortal humans and fellow Council members against the threat of any and all supernatural powers."

"By taking such an oath, you entered a binding contract to accept our laws and customs, and respect our authority and judgment." He paused."You also agreed to take on full responsibility for the actions of your brother, Yoshiro Kurosaki, did you not?"

"I did, sir. And I have abided by the-" Ichigo spoke quietly and quickly

"Silence!" Yamamoto raised his voice slightly, Ichigo grudgingly obeyed. "A report has been filed that your brother, with malicious intent, attacked and harmed a defenseless civilian. His actions have deviated from the acceptable law. What do you have to say about this, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo had guessed that Shiro's behavior was the reason for this meeting, but he still felt his his jaw set with anger at the Head Councilman. Another question arose in his mind. "Who reported this?"

Yamamoto was silent, then started to speak. "That information is not of relevance to the current—"

"I did," a voice interrupted from an alcove to Ichigo's left. The voice was smooth and aloof sounding, a mixture that instantly didn't sit right with Ichigo.

In the silence that followed, Ichigo noticed the person's heartbeat: slow, quiet, collected. Ichigo knew that, whoever was there, they were a powerful elite hunter. Ichigo wasn't sure why, but this person set him on edge. He noticed just in time that he had released his fangs in defense and quickly retracted them before asking, "Who are you?"

"Senbonzakura."

Ichigo turned his attention back to Yamamoto. "The girl is Rukia Kuchiki, sixteen years old, a classmate of mine. I invited her over to my house to work on a school project. Had I known my brother was home and starving, I would have met with Rukia elsewhere. She slipped and received a slight concussion and while helping her up, my brother went into a minor blood frenzy. She merely scratched her hand on a corner of a desk."

The Captain was silent for some time, eyes closed in thought. "You arrived late, it seems."

Anger welled up inside the teen. "I arrived in time to save her and subdue Shiro before he did any lasting damage."

"But damage was still done. Your brother poses a powerful threat to those around him. If you cannot handle taking care—"

"Shiro is not a threat!" Ichigo snapped, his voice echoing in the cylindrical room. He was pushing his temper, his anger exciting his thirst as the sound of everyones' hearts once again reached his ears.

"What happened to your arm?" Senbonzakura's voice asked from one of the shadowed alcoves.

"Nothing of relevance or concern." Ichigo stated, wanting to get out before he did something that he would later regret.

Yamamoto broke the tense silence. "Very well. I shall let your behavior and the actions of your brother, Yoshiro Kurosaki, off with a warning. Just remember your pledged duty to the council. You must keep your brother in check. If he breaks the rules set by the council, we have no choice but to eliminate him. Do you understand?"

Ichigo responded with a quiet "Yes sir".

"These rules also apply to you. You may be recognized as a Council member, but you are still a half-blood and therefore a potential threat. Do not forget that. You are dismissed."

Without another word, Ichigo grabbed his sword and left immediately.

* * *

Second chapter up, huzzah! Not much I have to say about this chapter. Sorry it wasn't very action-packed. Next chapter will have more happening.

Special thanks to amulet1412 for beta-reading and editing.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo

Thank you for reading! Comments, critiques, and questions are always appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Ichigo slammed the door closed behind him as he returned home. His head spun with dizziness and anger. Groaning, he made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a "juice" pouch from the fridge. He had just taken two sips of the synthetic blood substitute when his brother entered the kitchen.

"Woah! What happened!? You look terrible." Shiro exclaimed.

Ichigo glanced at his brother, trying to calm his own frazzled mind. "They dropped any charges against you, but still view you as a threat." He laughed softly. "They view me as a threat too..."

Shiro blinked in concern for his brother. Being more of a vampire than his brother, Shiro was more prone to losing himself to his own bloodlust. Episodes occurred fairly often but were usually short and not too serious. On the other hand, his orange-haired brother had much more control over himself; Shiro could count the number of times his brother had been in a blood frenzy on one hand. But that had the effect that when Ichigo did slip, he didn't know how to deal with it; he would lose control entirely and go berserk. Which was why Shiro was worried for his brother at that moment.

Mentally, the albino assessed the situation. _'His sclera are still mostly white... irises completely yellow... his top fangs are released... he hasn't actually lost it yet...' _Snapping his fingers he ran to his room, returning with a small, silver flask and pouring a glass of thick, crimson liquid which he placed in Ichigo's hand. "Here. Drink."

Ichigo's took the glass, eyes widening as he realized what his sibling had given him. "S-shiro… is this…"

"Of course." Shiro's red eyes watched Ichigo like a hawk. "Drink." He commanded.

With a shaky hand, Ichigo brought the glass to his lips and tipped his head back. The sweet liquid hit his throat and, almost against his will, Ichigo relaxed.

"Better?" Shiro asked, watching his brother's eyes turn black and gold before being hidden behind heavy lids.

"_Yes…_" Ichigo hissed, closing his eyes and smiling. A small part of his mind started to panic as he felt his self-control slipping, but the worry was gone quickly. It had been almost seven years since Ichigo had drank actual blood. The flavor and response from his body were both better than he remembered. Feeling a light hand on his shoulder, Ichigo turned to his brother and spoke in a hissed whisper: "More."

Shiro's eyes narrowed as he frowned, "Sorry Ichigo, maybe later." Helping the teen up, Shiro guided Ichigo to his room. _'Please don't be too mad at me later.'_ Taking a swig from the flask himself, he went to his own room and fell asleep.

It was early evening when both brothers awoke. Feeling much better, Ichigo cooked dinner and they ate their meals while watching (and adding their own commentary to) some random drama movie they found on TV.

After the movie was over, Ichigo got up from the couch to do the dishes while trying to collect his thoughts. Over and over again in his mind, he told himself that Rukia was alright, but worry still hung in his mind. The Council meeting earlier still bothered him. He could almost hear the mysterious Senbonzakura's cold voice asking what was wrong with his arm.

He had taken off the bandage earlier and was now staring down at his bare skin. There wasn't a single mark on it. Nothing to show that he had sliced into his arm to drain the poison. Nothing to show that his brother had bitten his arm in the first place. He sighed, remembering his childhood days where his mother would carefully tend to his small cuts and scrapes even though they healed in less than a minute without help. _'That was so long ago… Back when Shiro and I… before…'_

Appearing behind Ichigo, Shiro interrupted his brother's thoughts. "So, that girl… Rukia, was it? She a classmate of yours?"

"Yeah. Rukia Kuchiki." Ichigo's voice was quiet

"She seems nice." There was a brief pause. The albino thought back to the small girl and the bitter taste that was left in his mouth. "Ichigo... I think—"

He was interrupted by Ichigo's ringtone. "Hold on Shiro... we've got a job to do."

The orange-haired teen flipped open the phone and scowled at the text message scrolling across the small screen. He looked up at his brother, who instantly understood. Without another word, Ichigo grabbed the black sword from the kitchen table and Shiro slipped a dagger into his pocket. The duo set out into the night.

It was just past midnight but, being pretty much nocturnal, neither of the brothers were tired in any way. On the contrary, the sliver of moon that hung in the sky awoke a small fire in each of their eyes. Shiro undid the knot holding his ponytail back and felt the wind pull his hair with its invisible hands. He grinned, flashing fangs. Within a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the downtown park.

It was completely silent, save for the rustle of grass in the wind. Ichigo looked at the eager expression on his brother's face: golden eyes glinting madly.

"You enjoy this too much." Ichigo sighed, looking around for their target.

His brother laughed, "Hey, it's not every day that I get to let this energy out without, you know... killing something that I shouldn't. Hunting rogue vampires with you is about the only thing that the Council allows me to do."

"Point taken."

The scent of blood was heavy in the air.

"Ichigo." His brother was pointing to a figure hunched over by a maple tree a little ways off to the left.

He nodded and headed over to the person. Instantly, Ichigo knew that this wasn't any ordinary Rogue. "You may need to hold off on this one, Shiro. I don't want you getting into any more trouble." He took a step forward, he had a bad feeling about this. "Don't interfere."

He pouted slightly, but didn't protest.

The person sitting underneath the tree was a young man. His clothes were stained with blood, both old and fresh. He was rocking on his heels, eyes closed tightly, hands buried in his light brown hair. He was frantically whispering, almost as if to calm himself.

"_...It's ok you'll be fine it's all just a nightmare and you'll wake up fromt his dream and I'll be ok and everyone else will be ok and he will still be alive and..."_

Anxiety sparked in Ichigo's mind. His job was to subdue Rogues and bring them to the Council, but each one was different and many didn't go without a fight; it was part of the reason he brought Shiro for backup.

"Hey, you. I have orders to bring you in. This doesn't have to be a fight if you don't make it one." He shuddered as his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

The person stopped rocking. "P-please... water... It hurts so much... I need some water and then everything will be fine..."

Ichigo blinked.

"Need...water..."

The teen's eyes widened as realization crashed over him. This was a Fledgling: a human turned by a vampire's venom. His heart sank, it always did when he found people like this; driven mad by the inability to cope with the sudden changes. Anger flared up in his eyes. "Who did this to you?"

"...water..."

"Water won't help. You need blood."

The boy shook his head, "No no no no no no. I just... I'm just thirsty and want to see the sun... I want to see them all again... please... I just need... water." His head was pounding, skin feeling like it was burning up. He tried to think back to what had happened that made him like this, but there was only a terrifying blank gap in his memory. He reached out and roughly grabbed the front of Ichigo's shirt. His eyes snapped open. They were completely black. "Give... me..."

A spray of red suddenly shot out of the person's arm as Ichigo slashed at it with his sword. The man released his hold but immediately raked down his side with sharpened, claw-like nails. Ichigo dodged back, but still felt the hot blood flow out of the wound. The Fledgling in front of him stood up slowly then sprang forward at Ichigo, tackling him to the ground. Fangs bared, the two bit and scratched whatever they could. Ichigo succeeded in breaking the man's wrist but gained a scratch dangerously close to his eye in the process.

Shiro paced and watched from a distance; trusting that his brother could handle it, but still staying close enough in case Ichigo needed help. That's how they worked.

The two vampires tumbled about on the ground, blood flowing from various wounds. Shiro's eyes widened as the enraged rogue managed to wrench the sword out of Ichigo's hand. A deranged grin split the face of the fledgling who was now about to thrust the blade downward.

In a flash, Shiro managed to throw the rogue off of his brother and sank his fangs into the fledgling's shoulder, which only made the boy scream and struggle more.

Ichigo got to his feet slowly, blood blurring his vision. He immediately reached for his sword that had been thrown to the side when Shiro tackled his attacker. His brother was now pinning down the fledgling's shoulders, face buried in the boy's neck. But Ichigo knew he wasn't drinking. Fledglings always tasted bad. He walked silently to them, raised his sword and, in one fluid motion, stabbed through the heart of the poor boy.

The fledgling opened his mouth in a final, silent scream as his void-black eyes began lightening to their original color. Then everything went quiet and still.

"Sorry, you told me not to interfere" Shiro said softly, wiping the blood from his chin. He looked down at the Fledgling. "I know you hate doing that."

Ichigo said nothing as he stared at the limp form. The boy's short brown hair was matted with dirt and blood. His brown eyes were wide and lifeless. A heavy feeling tugged at his heart and he forced himself to say: "Mercy killing. He wouldn't have survived. But now we have a bigger problem. Who turned him?"

By law, on both the Vampire's and the Hunter's standards, it was punishable by death for a human to be turned without a Clan leader being present. There was a whole ritual that needed to be followed. '_Not everyone can handle being like this...'_ Ichigo thought solemnly.

Shiro, sensing his brothers unease, tried to cheer him up. "I blame Twilight. Teens everywhere are believing that vampires are all magic and glitter, and that becoming one is simple as that." He snapped his fingers. "We can only assume that the person who did this has been rightfully punished. Shinji and his clan has probably already taken care of it."

"Yeah. Still... look at him. He's not much older than we are." He leaned down and grabbed a wallet from the man's pocket. "Kon Isobe. Lives downtown. He has an older brother." Ichigo stated, pulling out a picture behind the identification card. "...He goes to my school." He looked back down at the body that was already starting to disintegrate into dust.

Shiro slowly took the wallet from his twin's hand, "Ichigo, there wasn't-"

Both of them looked up in surprised confusion as they noticed cherry blossom petals lightly floating around them. The pink flowers twirled around in the light breeze of the air as if in a dance.

"Flowers...?" Ichigo said, momentarily forgetting the boy from his school. "How? The cherry trees aren't in bloom." Curiously, he looked around, feeling one of them fall against his cheek. Something wet and warm trickled down the side of his face, followed by a small stinging sensation like a papercut. Reaching up to his cheek, he realized it was blood. Another petal fell against his hand and he grabbed it, holding it between his thumb and index finger. Blood beaded up around it as the petal cut into his skin. "These aren't flowers." His breath caught in his throat as a sick feeling washed over him. "Shiro! We need to get—" He cut off his sentence as he turned to his brother. Behind Shiro, a tidal wave of pink was barreling towards the unknowing teen.

Shiro grit his teeth in pain as the hundreds of tiny blades dug into his back. Each one wasn't very strong, but the sheer number of them was overwhelming. He felt himself falling forward, his back on fire. The mass of petals soared over his head, twisting unnaturally into a ball in mid-air before diving back down, straight towards the bleeding Half-Blood gasping for breath on the ground.

Ichigo cursed and, with a burst of inhuman speed, appeared between his brother and the swirling blade fragments. He poured energy into the sword, watching it crackle with blue-tinged black energy. "Getsuga... Tensho!" He called, releasing the wave of energy. It created a sort of shield as the petals crashed against him. Small cuts appeared on his arms as some petals slipped through. He panted through his fangs, Ignoring the pain for Shiro's sake..

Sneaking a look at his brother, Ichigo's heart fell. His back was a mess of blood, looking almost black in the moonlight. Shiro's wild yellow-on-black eyes flickered back and forth. A low growl escaped his throat and more blood poured from the wounds.

"Shiro, don't try to heal yourself! It's a Hunter's blade! It won't work!" Ichigo wanted to talk with Shiro and reassure him that it would be okay, but one look into those feral eyes told him that his brother was beyond reason. He only frowned further when he noticed that the teeth to the front of Shiro's fangs, the venom fangs, were also elongated and sharpened. He knew instantly that if the albino wasn't immobile from injuries, he would be in a dangerously murderous rampage.

Ichigo's own eyes, now glowing a stunning gold, turned back forward when the onslaught of flowers suddenly stopped. In front of him stood a man; his straight black hair falling to his shoulders with a few strands falling in front of his face. He wore a completely stoic expression that still managed to convey his intense anger. The second thing Ichigo noticed was the expensive-looking white coat worn by the stranger, accented by an equally-fancy blue silk scarf and matching gloves. The third thing he took notice of was the gash in the man's left sleeve.

Ichigo lowered his sword slightly, wary of the Hunter. He forced himself to not growl out the words, "Hold on. Just, listen... I am Ichigo Kurosaki, wielder of Zanget—"

"I know who you are."

Ichigo's blood went cold, he knew that voice. It was the same aloof voice that had questioned him in the Council meeting. "Senbonzakura." He whispered. The man made no indication of hearing. A knot formed in Ichigo's stomach and he was suddenly painfully aware that the last attack had left his eyes and fangs in their vampiric state.

"I received orders that there was a Rogue that was to be taken care of." Senbonzakura said plainly.

"The Rogue that was 'to be taken care of' was a fledgling. He's dead. The situation is under control. Shiro is **not** a target. Attacking him like that is a violation of the law,," he said through gritted teeth. Behind him, his brother wheezed and coughed, fighting to stay conscious. '_Hang in there Shiro. Please hang in there!'_

The older Hunter raised his head slightly, cold eyes analyzing the Half-Blood in front of him, calculating his chances of being attacked. "I am aware of that." He could almost see the fire in the teen's ominously yellow eyes, but also noticed the obvious hesitation. '_He won't attack. He knows the Council will kill him and his brother if he does anything too rash. He has quite a bit of control— for a Half-Blood at least.'_

"_**Then why did you attack him!"**_ It was taking all of Ichigo's will to stay in one place. Every cell in his body was screaming to either attack or run away. Neither of which were very good options. He closed his mouth as he felt his secondary fangs push out, responding to the adrenaline running through him. '_Stay calm. stay calm. stay calm. Don't do anything you'll regret later.'_

The cold, gray eyes moved to Ichigo's previously injured arm. "Your brother bit you, did he not?"

"Don't try to change the subject!"

"You should be careful, make sure you got all the venom out."

"Answer. The. QUESTION!" Ichigo roared, feeling like he was about to snap. Whether he would attack or break down in tears, he wasn't sure. But his patience and self-control were both wearing thin.

'Senbonzakura' just watched the teen in silence for a second. "Consider it a warning message." He turned around slowly and started walking away.

Ichigo's anger faltered slightly, replaced by worry and confusion. He took a step back towards his brother who had gone eerily quiet. "Hey! Where are you going? What do you mean? A warning? Why? For what?"

He stopped, turned. His eyes flashing with intense emotion as he simply stated: "Stay away from Rukia Kuchiki."


	4. Chapter 4

Shiro's mind was frantic with pain and shock as the blades dug into his back, his knees going involuntarily weak and making him fall face-down on the ground. A cold acceptance lodged itself in his stomach as he realized that he was probably going to die.

There was a light wind and an explosion of energy that barely registered in the albino's pain-filled mind. With blurred vision, he noticed that his brother was in front of him, using his sword to deflect the majority of the attack and personally acting as a shield.

He felt his own rationality ebb away as the blinding nonsense of vampiric insanity took control. He tried to push himself up, to move in some way, but the pain was too intense. _'Get away! Get away! Get away!'_ the words flowed endlessly into his mind. A small bit of rationality in Shiro's mind realized that usually the little voice was telling him to fight, not flee.

The vague sounds of voices gradually faded away as his eyes closed.

'_Sorry... Ichigo... farewell...'_

• x x X * X x x •

Isshin yawned as the pounding on the door dragged him from his slumber. "My, my... What could anyone want at such an awful hour?" He grumbled to himself. The pounding on the door continued. "I'm coming!" He snapped, violently pushing the door open "What do you—" He started to say, but stopped when he saw who was on the other side.

An orange-haired vampire was panting heavily on his doorstep. Isshin's eyes widened as he saw the pale twin draped over his son's shoulder. Blood covered both of them.

"Dad..." Ichigo's gold eyes were wide with panic, his voice uncharacteristically timid. "...He needs help."

Weariness instantly forgotten, Isshin stepped back to allow them entrance. "Get him inside. Quick."

The teen obeyed without hesitation.

He nearly tore apart his desk, searching for a small syringe that he always kept with him for emergencies like these.

Ichigo was trying to keep himself from freaking out as his brother lay motionless on the clean white bed. He was trying to convince himself that his brother was going to be ok, but his words sounded empty even to himself.

His dad came back quickly, holding a small syringe of clear liquid. "This should work, but I need you to hold him so he doesn't hurt himself further."

Ichigo nodded, knowing exactly what he was planning. He leaned down and held the albino's shoulders to the floor, careful to not press too hard on the open wounds. Isshin inserted the needle into Shiro's neck, and pushed down the stopper. There was a moment of tense silence before an inhuman, snarling was heard from the albino.

Isshin looked down at his two sons, watching the wounds slowly start to close and hoping that he would be ok.

• x x X * X x x •

The first thing that Shiro noticed was the unusual weight pressing down on his shoulder, making it slightly difficult to breathe. The second thing he noticed was the familiar smell of Yuzu's cooking mixed with the sour scent of antiseptics. Which lead him to the third realization: _'I'm not dead.'_

He painfully opened his eyes, feeling disoriented but much better than he would have expected. The weight on his back turned out to be Ichigo, collapsed from exhaustion. _'I— I'm alive... I'm alive and I'm... home.'_ He heaved a shaky sigh of relief.

Shiro was strong, maybe not as strong as a pure vampire, but the combination of his heritage, and people making fun of him as a child, made him quite a force to be reckoned with. A hunter was about the biggest threat he could face. _'Well, that, and the possibility of being driven insane by my own blood-lust.' _

What mainly troubled him was that he didn't know who had attacked him or why. _'Ichigo said they dropped all charges against me. Shouldn't this be illegal?'_ A cold feeling stabbed through his stomach. _'If any of the clans hear about this, there would be a slaughter._ He whispered out a curse under his breath.

Ichigo awoke to the sound of Shiro's muttered obscenity and automatically knew that his brother was going to be ok. He then realized that not only had he fallen asleep in his chair at some time during his vigil, but he had somehow managed to fall asleep using his brother as a pillow. Slightly embarrassed, he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Isshin came into the room soon after with a breakfast of eggs and bacon. Finishing their meal, their dad fussed over Shiro's healing wounds while said albino complained that he was perfectly fine.

Ichigo smiled at his brother's antics; the normality was calming. Realizing it was almost ten, he ran to school.

He, of course, was late, but that was a small price to pay for making sure that Shiro was going to live. Although he doubted that his half-blood brother would be happy with spending the entire day cooped up with Isshin.

Ichigo was slightly worried when he noticed Rukia's usual seat empty. The teacher and his friends gave some story about her caring for her brother that had been attacked by a dog. He didn't believe a word of it. Worry swept over him _'What if she's avoiding me?'_

The rest of the school day passed slowly without incident.

"Hey Ichigo!" Keigo's voice exploded in his ear as the energetic teen appeared next to him. Mizuiro and Chad followed close behind. "We're all going to hang out at my house to play some video games. You should join us!"

"No." Ichigo deadpanned. Boom, shot down. He knew Keigo would keep bothering him so he simply stated. "My brother and I have plans already."

Mizuiro stepped up to Keigo, looking up from his phone. "Oh, sorry Asano-san... I forgot I have a date today."

"A date!? Why didn't you tell me? And why so formal all of a sudden?"

"Ah... I would have invited you along, but her friends are quite shy and-"

"Friends!?" His mouth hung open as he cried melodramatically. "You have betrayed me! Wait-" Keigo stopped suddenly, realizing exactly what Ichigo had said. Looking around, said ten had slipped away during his theatrics. "Ichigo's brother? He wasn't talking about that creepy Shiro guy, was he?" An involuntary shudder ran down his spine. He had never personally met his friend's twin, but he had heard enough stories involving the albino to know he was pretty much mentally insane.

Chad nodded. Being one of Ichigo's closest friends, he was one of the few people to know the albino; and knew that Shiro was much kinder than the rumors made him out to be. Most of the time anyway.

• x x X * X x x •

Upon returning home, Ichigo was met with a hug from Yuzu and a small smile from Karin. His dad was out running some errands.

"Hey. How's Shiro?" Ichigo asked.

Karin answered. "He's doing what he always does: sleeping."

"That's not fair. It's not _my_ fault you're only awake during the day." Shiro yawned as he entered the room.

"Shiro-nii, are you sure you should be up?" Yuzu ran to his side, a concerned pout on her face.

He offered a genuine smile, placing a hand on her hair softly. "Don't worry so much. It'll take more than that to keep me down." He was joking of course; he had almost died the previous night,but he wasn't about to tell that to his sister.

After a couple more minutes of idle chat, Ichigo and Shiro decided to go back to the apartment.

Shiro squinted at the bright sky as they stepped outside. Slipping on his aviators, he was once again thankful that he could pass off his sensitivity to light as a symptom of his 'albinism'.

The walk home was quiet and peaceful, which Shiro was happy for. The injuries he had received had left him drained and he felt dead-tired. Nevertheless, his mind was buzzing with questions.

"Ichigo." His voice was soft. "Who attacked me? I could tell it was a hunter, but..."

Ichigo shrugged, looking down at his feet. "I don't really know who he is. He was at the Council meeting yesterday. His sword's name is Senbonzakura, that's all the information I got." He decided to leave out the fact that the Hunter, at both instances, had questioned him about the bite wound on his arm. Feeling slightly nervous, he glanced down at his arm, tensing suddenly and freezing in his tracks.

"Hey... you ok?" his brother asked from a few paces ahead.

"Yeah." he said, shaking his head. He thought he had just seen a streak of dark purple run down his vein. _'Just my imagination. I really need more sleep...'_

Shiro noted his brother's unease, but didn't press the issue further. Instead he asked: "So, is that all you know about him? Why did he attack me though? I didn't do anything."

Ichigo scowled, the man's cold voice running through his mind. He repeated the Hunter's words.

"A warning? Stay away from Rukia Kuchiki!?" He growled in his throat, but tiredness quickly swept away whatever anger he held. _'I didn't actually hurt her. I probably scared her a good deal, but still...'_ His tired mild still buzzed and he paused his thoughts, feeling like there had been something important that he needed to tell his brother. Something that he had realized about Rukia. _'Now what was it?'_ Deciding it was worthless to worry, he instead turned to Ichigo with a smirk. "So, when we get home, you going to call and check up on your girlfriend?"

"Actually I was- Wait. _Girlfriend_!?" Ichigo waved his hands in front of him. "No! I mean, Rukia's not- She's just a friend-!"

He smiled further at the light blush slowly appearing on his brother's cheeks. "Ok, ok, I understand. You don't want rumors spreading like wildfire through the school. Though you don't want to let her hear you say that you're only friends." He laughed.

"I'll kill you." Ichigo growled out

"Suuuure."

Reaching the house, Shiro unlocked the door and they went inside.

While Ichigo went to drop his schoolbag in his room, his brother noticed something lying near the desk in the corner: a book.

"What's this? Oh… Hey Ichigo, your girlfriend left her book here!" Shiro called him, picking up the book from the coffee table.

"Rukia is only a friend!" Ichigo snapped as he entered the living room.

His brother rolled his eyes, and handed over the paperback. "She dropped it in the confusion of... you know... everything that happened. Anyway, I'm going to bed."

"She wasn't in school today. I'll drop by her house and give it to her. Should probably see how she's doing too." Realizing that the albino was already closing the door to his room, he grabbed his house keys and set out.

Along the way, his thoughts were troubled. Rukia wouldn't leave his mind. He had to admit that he was worried for her; she hardly ever missed school; and with the teacher telling some sketchy excuse that she was caring for her brother that had been attacked by a dog, it seemed too weird for his liking. _'She's ok. You made it in time. She wasn't bitten. She hasn't changed.'_ His own words gradually calmed his wild mind and Ichigo actually started enjoying the beautiful weather, even to the point where he felt a small sense of sadness at reaching his destination so quickly.

Ichigo had known that Rukia's family had money, but he had never actually _seen_ the Kuchiki house and realized that she was filthy-stinkin'-rich. A sort of odd, envious embarrassment came over him as he mentally compared his humble apartment with the grandeur of this mansion. Choking down his hurt pride, he walked through the traditional cherry tree garden entryway and up to the main door, its mahogany surface intricately carved to display criss-crossing tree branches. Hesitantly, he redhead and rapped the brass knocker twice.

There was an oddly silent pause for a while, causing Ichigo to start to feel self-conscious. He hastily tried to straighten his shirt and (unsuccessfully) compress his wild mess of hair, before remembering Shiro's side comments about his relationship with Rukia. Feeling slightly foolish, he stopped. A minute had passed and no one had answered. _'Maybe they're not home? I guess I'll just leave the book here on the front porch.'_ Ichigo thought, but as he was about to turn to leave, the knob turned and the door swung open.

Ichigo's blood ran cold and the book slipped from his hand, landing with a soft thud on the wood porch. The air that had previously been warm and welcome suddenly seemed cold against his clammy skin. He wanted to bolt, to get away, to do anything; but instead he was frozen to the spot, staring into the unemotional eyes of Senbonzakura.

Neither of them spoke, they simply stared. Ichigo felt his heart frantically pulsating at dangerous speeds, his vision blurring. An oddly sharp pain raced up his left arm._ 'Why? Why do I feel so threatened by him!?'_

The dark-haired male was about to speak when a voice from behind him called out: "Ichigo!"

Rukia ran up from behind her brother, suddenly feeling confused by the look of pure terror on her friend's face, and the fact that her brother's arm was in front of her, holding her back.

Ichigo blinked in surprise at Rukia. _'She's alright.'_ the thought brought some peace to his mind, but it vanished quickly as the older hunter spoke again.

"Rukia…" he said calmly and quietly, but didn't take his eyes off of the half-blood. "Please return to the living room. I need to talk with your... friend."

Ichigo visibly tensed, then suddenly turned and bolted away from the house. He didn't know, nor did he care, where he was going; just as long as it was away from there.

"Brother, what's going on?"

Byakuya was surprised as his young sibling pushed past him, shouting the teen's name. Reaching for the sword above the doorway, he considered pursuing them; but hesitated, fingers inches from the hilt. His hand fell. In silence, he closed the door.

• x x X * X x x •

"Ichigo!" Rukia called as she entered the park, frowning when she realized she had lost sight of him. Walking over to the small cluster of trees and bushes that sat in the far corner of the area, she noticed something: twigs were broken like someone had recently forced their way through there. There were a few drops of blood on the end of a rosebush thorn. Eyes narrowing in concern, Rukia carefully made her way through the underbrush.

It seemed likely to her that her friend might have come through here

Rukia soon came to a small clearing with a creek; and sure enough, Ichigo was laying on one of the boulders, basically draped over it. His spine was bent backwards in a way that certainly couldn't be comfortable; Rukia cringed slightly at the sight of it.

A lost expression shone from his eyes as his brow furrowed. The blank look on the teen's face was foreign to her, startling.

"Ichigo?" She asked hesitantly, stepping into the clearing.

His head jerked to the side, boring into her with his endless gaze.

Her eyes were drawn to a scratch on his cheek, most likely from the rosebush she saw earlier. As she watched, the small cut healed itself, sealing up as if it were being zippered closed. A weak smile appeared on his face- another expression that Rukia had rarely seen.

"Hey Rukia. I guess I owe you an explanation."

* * *

I am honestly sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. I haven't forgotten about this fic; I actually have written all the way up to chapter 7. I'm not going to give excuses for why it took so long to post this chapter. Instead, I'm giving a long author note full of extra information. (yay?)

I really wanted to include this information somewhere, but I couldn't figure out how to logically fit it into the story, and I didn't want the plot to be shoved aside until I squeezed in every last drop of information I want to include. So it's here. Feel free to skip it if you want. 

"Half-Bloods" are considered any individual with mixed Vampire blood. It doesn't necessarily a 50/50 split. Half-bloods are rare because usually the pregnancy ends in a miscarriage due to the baby developing incorrectly because of the Vampire energy. With Ichigo and Shiro (and Karin and Yuzu), they survived because the energy split itself between the twins. (All surviving Half-Bloods have a twin.) Although like stated before, it doesn't have to be an even split. So here is the breakdown of Vampire-ness in the Kurosaki family and how it affects them:

\- Ichigo is pretty much exactly 50% Vampire - He would need to drink blood quite often, but avoids it by drinking synthetic blood daily.

\- Shiro is around 66-75% - He needs to drink blood to live healthy (and stay sane), but could survive solely on regular food and synthetic blood for a short time if needed.

\- Karin is hovering around 25% - Can live a perfectly normal human life without ever drinking blood. She will, occasionally, but prefers not to.

\- And lastly, Yuzu is 25% (hardly any at all) - She's pretty much normal and has only tried drinking blood once before. She didn't like it.

Shiro has a soft spot for Yuzu, Ichigo is slightly closer to Karin.

The apartment where they live actually belongs to Shiro, He moved out a few years prior when his "outbursts" started endangering his sisters. Ichigo went with him to help keep him in check. But he travels a lot (usually between the various houses of their relatives) so Ichigo stays in the small house to manage it.

**The More You Know**

Anyway, thanks for everyone who has read and reviewed. I'm sorry I haven't been responding to reviews, I'll make a better effort to do so from now on. (I'm actually honestly surprised how many people are liking this story.)

So thanks to everyone who read/reviewed/favorited/followed!


	5. Chapter 5

The clearing was quiet as Ichigo and Rukia sat, simply looking at each other. His brown eyes anxiously searched hers as he waited for any sort of reaction to what he had just told her.

Finally, she spoke. "Ok, let me get this straight. You and your brother– who is apparently still alive even after you _snapped his neck– _are Vampires. While your father, and my own _brother_, are part of a secret organization of Vampire Hunters. _Really._ You expect me to believe that?"

He nodded with dead sincerity.

"This has got to be a joke."

"Rukia, do you really think I _could_ joke about something like this?"

"Prove it." She stated, eyes narrowed.

Ichigo sighed, he had hoped that Rukia would just take his word for it. Alas, that was too much to hope for. With another sigh, he closed his eyes and focused on drawing out that primal sense that lurks within the depths of his mind.

The girl in front of him watched expectantly; feeling somewhat entranced by it all, despite the terror slowly spreading through her.

His eyes opened, now golden.

Her own dark eyes widened in astonishment.

In response, he curled his top lip back.

Rukia started in mute fascination as the two pointed fangs replaced his canines

'_D-does he actually–?'_ It took a minute for her to find her voice. "Does that hurt?"

He shook his head.

"But_–_ but_–_" She stuttered. Her mind trying to deny the illogical situation she was witnessing.

A rustling was heard from the bushes around them, getting closer with each passing second. Ichigo froze, halfway expecting Byakuya to jump out and skewer him. Much to his surprise, Shiro forced his way into the clearing, breathing heavily.

"Rukia... she's got a protection charm on her! That's why her blood tasted all biter." He blurted out, not realizing that the girl in question was sitting there. "It all makes sense! Ichigo, Senbonzakura is_–_"

"Rukia's brother, I know." Ichigo stated plainly.

Confused, Shiro then looked to his left, seeing the dark-haired girl staring at him with fearful eyes. "Oh. Hi." He turned back to Ichigo, uncomfortable with her terror-filled gaze on him. "Have you explained anything to her?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Not much, I've been proving to her that I'm telling the truth."

"Ah. that explains the..." His voice trailed off as he motioned to Ichigo's unnatural eyes and pointed teeth.

"Yeah."

"You!" Rukia, who had been watching the brief conversation in stunned silence, stammered. She pointed a finger accusingly at the albino. "You really _are_ alive! But_–_ I saw_–_ He_–_ _You–_" She stopped flailing for words and just stared. Minutes passed. Finally, Rukia shook her head with a sigh. "Ok. Ok. I'll listen. I'll... I'll believe you. I just... need to think for a bit."

"It's ok." Ichigo says softly, halfway annoyed at his brother's appearance. the last time Rukia had seen Shiro was when he briefly lost control. Though Shiro's sudden appearance was enough evidence to convince her, Ichigo could tell that Rukia was not comfortable in the presence of his brother.

A heavy silence pressed down on all of them. Shiro stole a glance at Rukia before looking back to his brother, eyebrow raised. "Denying it seems kinda pointless now, don't you think? I mean, after everything she's seen." He muttered loud enough for the girl to hear.

"Shiro!" Ichigo scolded.

"I'm just saying..." he grumbled. "She looks a bit shaken to me."

"Really, I'm fine." She answered a little too quickly. "It's just... you guys are vampires. And... well truthfully, I'm not sure how to react to any of this."

Shiro sighed, he was tired and wanted to get back to his bed, but Ichigo's eyes were almost begging him to stay. Slightly annoyed, he raked a hand through his white hair with a sigh. "Well, you most likely have questions so I'll just give you a quick answers: Ichigo and I are really sixteen, and we have always been Half-Bloods. Yes we drink blood. No we cannot turn into bats. Any other questions?"

Rukia fell silent. "Just one."

"Don't you dare ask me if I sparkle." Shiro interrupted with a joking smirk.

Ichigo shot a glare at his brother, then turned his attention back to Rukia. "Yes?"

"Why did you never tell me?"

Ichigo was surprised to hear the hurt in her voice. "I-I'm sorry, Rukia. Please don't take it personally, it's just... I didn't want you to be scared of me. I mean, yeah I can live a pretty normal human life, but I'm not normal. To be fair, you're only the second person from school who actually knows what I am."

Rukia pondered his words for a moment, realizing that she didn't feel scared or threatened in any way by her friend. His brother however... "Who else?"

"Uryu Ishida." Ichigo says "He found me out pretty quickly, what with him being a Quincy and all."

Her head was spinning again. "Uryu? Quincy? Explanation please?"

"That's just what he calls himself. He's an independant bounty hunter. Wields a bow. He's ok. once he got over his 'kill-on-sight' mentality when it came to Shiro."

Said albino cringed at the memory of his first meeting with the archer.

"Ok, enough about Vampires," Rukia said, "what about the other people; the Hunters? What are they"

Ichigo took started the explanation this time, well aware of Shiro's tired annoyance. "Hunters fight Vampires to protect humans. They're there to stop vampires who cross the line and go too far." He spoke quietly and quickly, cold guilt seeping into him as he spoke.

"Do many Vampires go crazy? Does it happen often?" Rukia asked.

"No." He retorted. "And Hunters don't always kill the Vampires. They kinda act like supernatural policemen."

Rukia pretended she hadn't seen the way Shiro quickly looked away as she asked the question.

Shiro was the one to break the silence that had settled uncomfortably over the group. "Your brother is a Hunter. He'd probably give you some answers. He must really care about you a lot; going to such lengths to protect you." A smile spread slowly across his face. "He gave me quite a nasty scratch with that sword of his yesterday."

Rukia couldn't imagine her cold, emotionless brother going to such lengths to protect her. "Is that why you ran?" Rukia asked Ichigo, who nodded in response. She thought for a while longer. "I need to talk to him."

"Hey Rukia..." Rukia looked at Ichigo, his eyes fading to a deep brown again. "Thanks... for not freaking out." He really did mean it, an odd weight lifted from his shoulders. "We should probably get you back home. Byakuya hasn't come after us yet, but I don't want to push my luck."

Rukia nodded and the trio silently exited the forest.

The sun was down by the time they were walking home. Ichigo and Rukia walked side-by-side while Shiro lagged a few steps behind them. He bet that Rukia would feel more comfortable with him back a ways.

Besides, he could feel the beginnings of hunger stirring in him.

They were about halfway home when they passed by two guys smelling of alcohol. The shorter of the two men kicked at Shiro's ankle as he passed him while the taller one pushed into the teen's shoulder. Shiro stumbled and fell forward, catching himself quickly before he smashed into the sidewalk.

"Watch where you're goin', punk!" the short man snapped.

"Heh. Yeah, albino freak!" the other drunk guy slurred.

Ichigo froze in his tracks. Rukia stopped a few paces later, looking back at them.

Shiro slowly regained his balance, took a deep breath, and allowed a closed-mouth smile to grace his lips. He laughed quietly under his breath.

"What's so funny? Huh?" The short man snapped.

"Albino freak? _Really?_ Like I've never been called _that_ before."

"H-hey man. We don't want trouble." the tall man men stuttered, caught off guard by the reaction. He found a surprisingly strong arm pressed up against his throat as he was forced up against the brick wall of the building. It happened almost too quickly for his intoxicated mind to comprehend. However, the two gold eyes looking into his own cut straight through the fogginess in his head, making him shiver.

"Shiro don't." Ichigo snapped in warning. He knew that smile on his brother's face.

"Seriously, that the best you can do?" The albino leered with a grin, not at all paying attention to his brother. All he was concerned with was the wide-eyed man in front of him.

Almost too late, Ichigo jumped in front of Rukia. "Don't look."

The drunk man pinned to the wall gasped as fangs pierced the skin and hot blood ran down his neck. The area quickly grew numb. His eyes searched frantically for his friend, only to find that he had been abandoned. He feebly tried to push the person holding him down him away, but his already-fuzzy mind was growing slower and his vision started fading to black.

Ichigo watched with narrowed eyes, standing protectively in front of Rukia. He could practically feel her fear in the air. He grit his teeth, halfway wanting to tear Shiro away from the poor man; but he knew that would only make matters worse. It was never a good idea to get between a Vampire and their food.

Instead, he turned to Rukia, staring in wide-eyed terror at the scene in front of her. Ichigo cursed and moved to get closer to her. He suddenly was stopped by a sword pointed at his throat.

Byakuya stood behind his sister, a hand resting delicately on her shoulder.

Ichigo forced himself to stay still. _'Darn, when did he get here!?'_

He quickly stole a brief glance at his brother.

Shiro finally pulled himself away, sinking to his knees as the unconscious man slumped unceremoniously to the ground. Shiro's head was thrown back and his gold-on-black eyes stared blindly into the sky. Blood ran down his chin and onto his shirt.

A quick pang of pain blazed through Ichigo's heart and through his left arm as he watched. When he looked back, both Kuchikis were gone.

Shaking his head, he carefully made his way to his brother, hoping that he would listen now. "That was stupid, Shiro."

"Sorry." Shiro said finally, his voice warbled but otherwise void of emotion.

"It's ok." Ichigo said with an equally even tone.

"I couldn't stop myself."

Ichigo didn't respond as he walked over to the unconscious man, checking his weakened pulse.

"He shouldn't be dead. Let's go." Shiro slowly got to his feet, inspecting his blood-stained clothes with distaste. _'Tsk. Ruined. And this was my favorite shirt.'_

As the moon steadily rose higher, the brothers quietly made their way back to the apartment.

Ichigo's mind was preoccupied with Rukia. A sick feeling wove through his gut at the memory of Byakuya's furious eyes. _'What will happen now? After that, he's certainly not going to trust me or my brother. What if I never see her again? What if I–'_

"Are you going to open the door or not?"

His brother's annoyed voice snapped Ichigo out of his thoughts and he realized that he had froze halfway through putting the key in the lock. he turned the key and walked inside.

Ichigo knew that Shiro wasn't hungry, so he made himself some eggs and sat down on the couch.

"Shiro, what happened to you today?"

His eyes narrowed slightly as he busied himself with stacking the books on the coffee table. "Nothing. It's fine."

"You're such a terrible liar. Come on, you've seemed slightly on edge ever since your last meeting with the District Leader. I mean, I know he's been pressuring us to join a Clan, but that shouldn't bug you this much."

He sighed, leaning back into the couch, arms crossed. "My self-control has been slipping. I'm losing it."

"Shiro–"

"Just let me talk." He cut his brother off with a glare. "It's bearable for now... but..." He frowned, mixed emotions swirling in his eyes. "If I don't do something about it, it will kill me." He silently added _'Or the Hunters will...'_ Then mentally cringed at the idea.

"So you went and asked for help?" Ichigo's voice was quiet. They had always knew this could happen. All Half-Bloods ran the risk of becoming unstable. It was something they both tried not to think about; but actually hearing it from his brother made Ichigo's heart sink.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I'm not done fighting yet." Shiro's tone was light. "You should get some sleep."

With reluctance, he went to his room to attempt to reorganize his thoughts.

In the darkness, he forced his tight muscles to relax. As he did so, he dropped his illusion of being normal: fangs extending and eyes turning the color of pale gold.

Shiro did this often, when he was alone at home. It was more of a challenge for him to hold back his fangs, or turn his eyes a believable color. Ichigo, on the other hand, usually leaned towards looking normal on most occasions, as it felt more natural for him.

He mentally worked through everything that happened that day, the things his brother had s. Eventually, his eyes grew heavy and he gave in to the peacefulness of sleep.

Ghosts of memories flitted through his sleeping mind until they pieced together a dream: He was standing in a park his family used to visit often when he was younger. Shiro stood in front of him, a dead chickadee in his cupped hands, eyes shining with pride.

"_Look what I caught! Isn't it great?"_

Ichigo turned and found himself in the rain, his mother's corpse in front of him. Screams tore their way from his throat as he held her close, glaring up at the faceless man leaning over him.

Blood pooled around him and filled his mouth.

Suddenly, his mother was no longer there, replaced by Rukia's small form. He bit into her soft neck, tasting the sickly sweet blood as it poured forth. He released her and bit in again and again, needing more.

He couldn't stop. It wasn't enough. _It would never be enough._

Her blank eyes silently begged him to stop, cold lips asking "why?"

Pain shot through his heart and down into his arm; this time flaring up in his jaw and left side of his face too. Dark purple fluid painfully traced the spiderweb of veins and arteries under his skin.

A stabbing pain like a sword ran through his gut.

With a sharp intake of breath, his eyes opened.

He lay there panting for a few minutes before his eyes slowly closed again and he was pulled into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Thank you for reading, and thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed.

Comments, critiques, and questions are always welcome and appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

Rukia wasn't in school again.

Ichigo had texted her in the morning, hoping that she would respond. Throughout the agonizingly slow school day, his nerves were on end. It didn't help that his distracted attention got him in trouble in almost every class.

Lunch was a blessing when it came around.

He clicked on his phone, the knot his his gut loosening somewhat when the 'new message' icon appeared on the screen.

'Brother won't let me go to school. This is all so weird.'

Sighing, he typed up a message and sent it back. 'Sorry. It's all my fault.'

The reply came a few minutes later, as he was walking up to the roof: 'No. I mean it's weird that my brother is being so protective. I never knew he cared so much...'

'Still... sorry, about everything. For being... you know... and for not telling you...'

'What are you talking about? You keep that attitude up and I swear, I will march right down to school and smack you so hard.'

He blinked in startled confusion at the answer. 'So... You're not angry or scared of me? We're still friends?'

'Of course we're still friends, Idiot.'

He allowed a rare smile to appear on his face, a huge weight lifted over his shoulders.

Leave it to Keigo to ruin it. "Ichigo!" He shouted with glee. "You smiling like that can only mean that you've gotten a girl– _brufht_"

He fell to the ground, holding his sore forehead that had just collided with Ichigo's arm. "You're worse than my dad..." said orange-haired teen muttered under his breath.

"O-ok... fine then." Keigo huffed, picking him up from the ground "Who are you texting?"

"Rukia."

"You liar!" The brown-haired teen shouted with an over-dramatic faint.

"Chill out. We're just friends. I don't need any rumors spreading."

The group ate their lunches in serene quietness. Ichigo looked up at the bright sun, feeling the warmth on his face. He was just glad it wasn't raining, it always rained on bad days.

His mind crept away to a few years ago: his hands holding his brother's shoulders down as Shiro snarled and scratched at whatever he could reach. Their dad trying desperately to calm him down as Shiro's pupils dilated to the point where his irises were nothing more than thin gold rings surrounded by black. Isshin cursed under his breath and the entire household silently noticed even more the absence of Masaki.

'_You'd know what to do, Mom...'_

A sigh escaped his lips as he could only think his brother's worrisome condition. A cold feeling crept into his blood. _'What if he loses it completely one of these days? What if I'm forced to kill him?' _

He found it difficult to eat his lunch and settled on simply finishing the synthetic blood cleverly disguised as harmless fruit juice. It had an oddly bland flavor. _'Urahara probably changed the recipe again or something.'_

Lunch ended but Ichigo didn't pay much attention to the afternoon lessons. He kept his mind of school and his brother alike by texting Rukia.

Rukia: 'Byakuya finally explained everything to me. He thought keeping me ignorant to the supernatural would protect me.'

Ichigo: 'Well it worked pretty well. Until a few days ago.'

'Yeah, suddenly all those random injuries he came home with make sense.'

The ringing of the final bell was a liberating sound. Ichigo hurried out of the school, saying a quick "See you." To his friends as they parted ways.

His phone buzzed, alerting him of another message from Rukia. 'Yesterday, when we were walking home... your brother... was he doing what I think he was doing?'

He sent a response. 'Drinking blood? Yes. I'm so sorry you had to see that. Shiro can get... carried away sometimes.'

'Did the man die?'

'No. He's fine. He was probably a bit sick and dizzy the next morning, but he most likely passed it off as a hangover.'

'Is your brother going to get in trouble for that? He got in trouble for attacking me, and he didn't actually do anything.'

'He only got in trouble for that because your brother tattled on him. He didn't kill him, it's all fine.' Ichigo frowned, knowing that it wasn't exactly _'all fine'_, but Rukia didn't need to know that.

There was a long gap without a message from Rukia after that. Ichigo made it almost all the way home before his phone buzzed again.

Rukia: 'Do you drink blood?'

'Yes.'

There was another long pause. Ichigo got the impression that she was either disgusted thinking over what he had said, or was trying to decide whether to inquire further. He reached the apartment and lazily threw his schoolbag on the table.

He was in the middle of completing algebra problems when Rukia messaged him again.

'How often?' was all the message said. He stared at it for a bit, puzzled by the question.

'_How often? what does she mean How often? How often what- Oh.'_ It clicked as he remembered the last message he had sent. He contemplated lying, but knew that would only make her upset with him later.

'Not often. I did have a bit a few days ago- Shiro made me drink some to calm me down- but before that, I hadn't had any for about seven years. Any more questions?'

He laughed at her response of: 'What does it taste like?'

and sent 'Like blood. Ever bite your tongue or split your lip?'

Rukia: 'Jerk.'

Their conversation slowly dwindled to idle chat as Ichigo methodically worked through problem after boring problem in his homework. He finished as the sun was setting. Rukia had stopped texting him a while back, content- for the most part- with having her questions answered. For now, everything was fine.

• x x X * X x x •

The days passed by until a week had elapsed since Ichigo had told Rukia the truth about him and his family. She still hadn't been in school, but had visited him once while on her way to Inoue's house. He was glad to see that she was ok, in spite of the fact that Byakuya was pretty much keeping her a prisoner in her own house

On the negative side of things, he could tell that Shiro was getting noticeably more agitated. Twice over the past week he had spiraled into a frustrated, bloodthirsty rage. Ichigo almost needed to snap his neck again one of those times.

Shiro, on the other hand, was worried about Ichigo, his brother had been acting different: moody, withdrawn, complaining of weird dreams and phantom pains in his arm. He would disappear at night, wandering around town. Once, Uryu showed up at his door at midnight, Ichigo unconscious and slung over his shoulder.

"_I never thought I'd say this but..."_ The Quincy had said with a frown. _"Control your brother, Shirosaki"_

When Shiro had finally managed to wake Ichigo, he claimed couldn't remember anything that had happened after he left the house.

Ichigo himself was quite troubled, he had started to feel a bit... off. In a way he couldn't describe, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, a sort of frenetic energy that he hadn't felt since he was a child often settled over him. The random pains, the odd dreams, gaps in his memories, the flash of purple he thought he saw a few times in his arm. _'I don't really feel like I'm going unstable. And really, I'm probably jumping to conclusions. I'm under a lot of stress.'_ And yet he cringed to think that over the past few days, he had felt himself slipping into a blood lustful state of mind and knew something more was happening to him.

When he came home from school on Friday, Shiro was asleep in his room: his head underneath the pillow despite heavy curtains blocking out almost all light. Ichigo closed his brother's door and set to work on fixing dinner.

Looking in the fridge, he found a few steaks that his brother had bought, and cooked them up- rare for Shiro, medium for himself. Surprisingly, the albino was still asleep. _'Must've just gone to bed when I got home...'_

So Ichigo ate his meal alone, thinking about Shiro's dilemma. This was not the first time he had gone unstable, but it seemed to be happening faster this time. And unfortunately, just because he had recovered last time didn't necessarily mean that he could do it again.

Just then, his phone went off, stating the location of a Rogue vampire. It wasn't a very high level one, and he didn't want to wake his brother, so he decided to take this one alone. Taking his black katana from the wall, he headed out into the night.

• x x X * X x x •

Siro woke just after ten forty-five. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he walked into the kitchen. "Mmh... what's for dinner?" He asked, smelling the lingering scent of cooking meat. "Ichigo?" He called, but received no answer. He looked around the room. There were some dirty dishes in the sink and a steak sat on a plate on the counter. It was cold.

The teen himself seemed to be missing without a trace.

"Ichigo?" He called again

His brother's phone and shoes were gone, as was his Hunter blade.

Deciding that his brother probably got a job and kindly decided to let him sleep a bit more, he warmed up the steak and sat down to watch some television.

The door opened slowly and the scent of fresh blood instantly hit Shiro's nose. "Hey Ichigo. How was-" His sentence cut off as he turned to look at this brother from over the back of the couch.

Ichigo was standing, still as a statue, in the entryway. Blood splattered the front of his shirt and dripped from his chin. His yellow eyes stared blankly ahead of him. Shiro frowned as Ichigo's eyes started to darken; black seeping into his left eye.

"Ichigo..." Shiro approached him similar to how one approaches a trapped wild animal. "What happened?"

"Dunno." he said flatly.

The albino was very concerned.

Ichigo looked down at his soiled clothes. "I'm taking a shower." he stated, pushing past his brother. Dropping the bloody sword on the kitchen table, he headed off into the washroom.

'_Ichigo... what is happening to you?'_

Ichigo awoke with a groan the next morning around eleven, his head pounding. _'Words can't express how happy I am that it's Saturday...'_ grudgingly, he got up and walked into the kitchen. Shiro was sitting at the table, sipping a mug of black coffee.

The ebony blade was still sitting on the table where it had been tossed yesterday. Dried blood caked its edges.

"Coffee?" Ichigo asked "What, are you not planning to sleep today?"

"Nah. Thought it best to stay awake." His voice was raspy "I'm actually surprised you're up already..."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, pouring himself a cup too.

"Ichigo, what happened last night?"

He froze in the middle of pouring creamer "I went to hunt a Rogue. I didn't want to disturb you, so I did it by myself." He shoveled a spoonful of sugar into the hot beverage. "It was just... a little more than I could handle. I'm fine." He sat at the table, a heavy silence settled over them.

Shiro narrowed his eyes, glaring at his half-empty mug. "You've always been a terrible liar."

"Not lying." he said in an annoyed tone. "I told you, I went and-"

"Come on Ichigo. I know you're trying to not make me worry, but... what was with all that blood? That wasn't yours."

"Some of it was." was the mumbled reply.

"And the rest of it was from the Rogue?" Shiro scoffed "What did you do, _drain him dry?_"

Fear and uncertainty flickered for a second in Ichigo's eyes, his anger faltering for a second.

"Just tell me what happened."

"I told you..." Ichigo growled out, meeting his brother's gaze with fury slowly building in his eyes. "_Nothing_ happened. _I'm fine_."

Shiro stood, eyes narrowed. "No you're not, Ichigo! These past couple days, you've been acting different."

"Shut up." Ichigo snapped, eyes flashing amber for a second.

"Just let me help you-" Shiro pleaded.

Ichigo snarled "I don't need help!"

"Listen to me, will ya?" he snapped back "I know you're scared-"

"I am _not_ scared. Shut up!" Ichigo yelled. "Shut up and calm down before-"

Shiro was quickly losing his patience, a dangerous thing with his current instability. "No _you_ shut up!" He roared. "We need to do something, you're-"

"_**Shut the eff up!**_" Ichigo yelled. His hand reached for the sword on the table, fingers wrapping around the hilt. Shiro lunged at him, pinning his brother's arm to the table.

Both brothers were panting through their fangs. Anger burned in their matching gold eyes.

Ichigo jerked his arm free. The sword clattered to the ground.

Without another word, he stormed past Shiro and out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Shiro's hands shook as he grabbed his flask, eyes wide and flickering quickly between red and gold. He grunted, willing himself to hold down his temper. He downed the blood quickly and fell back into a chair. _'He... was about to raise his sword against me.'_

After some minutes, he stood, trying to calm himself. His brother's phone was on the counter. He picked it up and scrolled through the contact lists.

"Hello? Ichigo?" the voice answering sounded groggy

"Hi Rukia. Sorry, not Ichigo. It's Shiro."

"Shiro?" She sounded surprised. "Sorry... I just got up. Um... Hi."

He looked at the clock eleven-forty. _'Strange... I always thought of her as an early bird.'_ He shook his head. "No problem. Hey... Ichigo wouldn't happen to be at your house, would he? Or maybe somewhere near it?"

Silence.

"What the– I _just_ woke up! Why in the _world_ would you think your brother was over at my house!? You creep!"

Flinching, he held the phone away from his ear. "Ok ok. _Sorry_. I didn't mean it like _that_. Just... I thought that you would know. Listen, forget it–"

"Know what?" She could hear the odd edge of uneasiness in his voice. "What's going on?"

'Well, there goes my lead.' Shiro cursed "Nothing. We had an argument this morning, he ran off. I was just wondering if you had any idea of where he was. If you don't then I guess I'll search around town for him."

"Do you want help?" Rukia asked quietly.

"No. I think I got it. Call me if you see him though. I have his phone." He said.

"Okay then." Her reply was slightly skeptical. "If you change your mind and need help, please call."

"Ok." He promised, and hung up.

• x x X * X x x •

Rukia dressed as quickly as she could and ran downstairs. Shiro had said that he didn't need help, but she couldn't just sit passively in her home. She'd been stuck here for a week and was beyond sick of it. She was going to help find Ichigo.

She had made it all the way and to the front doors without problem, when Byakuya walked up behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

'_So close.'_

* * *

Random cliffhanger-ish ending is random.

Sorry this was late in being posted, complications arose. Mainly, I was just self-conscious to post because the last chapter didn't get much attention. Nevertheless, I'm posting now and I _will_ be finishing this story... eventually._  
_

Thank you to those who did Favorite/Follow.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo

I hope you enjoyed reading. Comments, critiques, and questions are always appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

"Where do you think you're going?"

The sudden voice behind Rukia made her jump. "B-brother... I'm..."

"You are going to see that Kurosaki boy, are you not?" he looked down at her. She couldn't tell the emotion in his eyes.

She nodded.

"I have already told you: I forbid you from having anything to do with that family. I was wary of them prior to that 'incident' last week, but I am now convinced that they are dangerous."

"Ichigo is my friend." she said, Byakuya raised an eyebrow in surprise at her defiance. "I was his friend before he told me he was a Vampire, and if he's in trouble now, then I can't just do nothing."

There was a long silence, Byakuya carefully watching his sister. "Hisana, was killed by a Half-Blood Vampire. He was someone who I had once called 'friend'." Rukia blinked slowly, he rarely spoke of his late wife. "I trusted him, and then one day he lost control of himself. Hisana died before I could help her, and he died soon after; his body unable to cope with the sudden changes that had come over him." His voice was level. No hatred or pain echoed from his words, he was just plainly laying down the facts. "I have protected you from having to experience that pain for this long. I cannot simply have you running off into danger."

Rukia wanted to disagree. She wanted to yell that it wasn't fair to treat her like a bird in a cage. But she saw the look in her brother's eyes: he really did care for her. Though he was outwardly cold, he wanted more then anything to keep her safe. She stepped away from the door, eyes downcast.

He nodded. "You will return to your room, and stay away from them."

She slowly walked past him and up to her room.

• x x X * X x x •

After storming out of the house, Ichigo had walked around town for a while. Eventually his feet carried him to a disturbingly familiar location: the river next to the south bridge. He didn't stay for long, instead letting his feet lead him to another familiar location: his mother's grave.

So there he was, staring down blearily at the stone, 'Masaki Kurosaki' carved delicately into it.

'_I'm sorry, Mom...'_ he thought solemnly, _'I shouldn't even be here right now. It's disgraceful for me to be standing here. I just don't know what's wrong with me.'_

Ichigo clenched his trembling hands into fists, cursing himself. The scene played itself over and over again in his mind:

_He reached for the sword, grabbing the slightly worn hilt in his hand. Shiro was suddenly right there, forcing his forearm down on the table._

_They stayed like that for a second, glaring at each other._

_He was seriously about to raise his blade against his brother._

'_I could have **killed** him- no- I **would** have killed him had he not stopped me.'_

"What is wrong with me..." Silent tremors racked his body. He tried to recall exactly what had happened the previous night. He had left the house, killed the rogue, then... then...

'_Then what?'_

The next thing he remembered was standing in front of the door of his apartment. There was a gap in his memory.

A terrifying gap. The kind of blank space that had really only happened once before when he was nine and his mother-

"Thought I might find you here."

Ichigo jumped slightly at the sound of his brother's voice behind him.

"I walked all around town looking for you." A sigh escaped his pale lips. "Shoulda known you'd be here. Come on." He draped an arm around his brother's shoulder, who flinched away from the contact.

"Shiro..." He fought back the tremble in his voice. "You deserve a brother better than me."

He didn't respond.

"I was about to attack you this morning!" His eyes blurred slightly as tears gathered. "What kind of a brother am I?!" He yelled in slight panic, only to be silenced by a sharp punch to the ribs that succeeded in knocking the wind out of him momentarily.

"Shutup, Ichigo." the albino muttered quietly. "You didn't mean to. You're not thinking straight, and I can't hold that against you."

Finally recovering his lost air, Ichigo wheezed a few times before asking softly, "You have your flask?"

"Of course." He carried it everywhere with him now.

Still looking at the gravestone, Ichigo held out his hand to his brother, fingers waving in a 'hand it over' kind of gesture. Shiro didn't protest and placed it in Ichigo's palm. He brought the open top to his lips and tipped it back.

'_Tsk... don't drink it all...'_ Shiro thought semi-jokingly.

Before long, the flask was empty and Ichigo was gasping in breaths. "There's something wrong with me, Shi..." He stared with gold-black eyes at the empty metal container in his hands.

'_Shi?'_ He shook his head. "It'll be ok. Let's get home and get you some rest. Today has been rough. Whatever is going on, we can deal with it later, ok?"

"Ok." Ichigo responded quietly. With some effort, he returned his eyes to their natural color and withdrew his fangs. "Let's go."

They made it home in silence and luckily without disturbances.

"I'm just saying Shiro... I- I'm-"

"Ichigo. If you apologize one more time. I won't forgive you. I've told you: We're both probably going through the same thing right now. I understand. We'll go talk with Dad tomorrow. But for now, get some rest."

Grumbling, Ichigo obeyed. Shiro soon followed suit. He had some hours running around trying to find his brother. It was only about one in the afternoon, but for him, it was pretty much like one in the morning.

Shiro awoke again when it was dark, wishing that he could sleep longer; but the annoying pains shooting through his abdomen couldn't be ignored. He grabbed the smooth metal flask on his bedside table, surprised by the lightness of it. _'Oh right... Ichigo drank it.'_ The pain came again and he doubled over, tucking his knees to his chest. The feeling faded slowly and he carefully uncurled himself. Something warm and wet dripped from his lip and his tongue was oddly numb. He cursed quietly, running a finger across the hole that he accidentally bit straight through the tip of his tongue. _'Not again...'_

With a frown, he swallowed the blood that was pooling in his mouth, subtly helping his thirst; just enough to hold him over. He stood and walked to the living room, writing a quick note in case Ichigo awoke and wondered where he was. Using the darkness to his advantage, he sped towards his destination with blinding speed, knocking on the wooden door a few times when he got there a few minutes later.

"Oh my." A blond man pushed the door open slightly, blinking in surprise at the gold-eyed teen in front of him. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Yoshiro?"

"Shut up, Urahara." The Half-Blood muttered, throwing the flask at him. "And don't use my full name. It sounds... weird."

"Hey hey, I'm only joking here Shiro." He caught it with ease, an amused glint in his shaded eyes. "You don't seem to be doing to well there. If you've gone through your supply so quickly..." He turned to walk back into his shop.

"Again, shut up." Shiro followed. "Ichigo drank most of it."

The shopkeeper paused, mid-stride. "Ichigo? I didn't think he drank."

"He doesn't. Not usually anyway." He bit down slightly on his tongue, careful to not puncture the still-healing hole he had put there earlier. "I think Ichigo is going unstable too."

A serious expression settled on Kisuke's face, he tipped his hat forward, hiding his eyes. "That's no good. You two are my best customers. I can't lose you both."

Anger briefly coursed through Shiro's veins at the store owner's words. He knew that the man was like that- using his twisted humor to deal with difficult situations- but that didn't mean he liked it. It was just one of the many things that Urahara did that never sat right with Shiro.

Noticing the flash of rage in the teen's eyes, Kisuke quickly started refilling the flask. "So tell me, how are you faring?"

Shiro knew there was no lying to this guy. But he hated the truth. "Not too well... It's getting harder to stop myself. I'm trying but... It hurts. I can barely think straight anymore."

Urahara watched him wait a steady gaze. "How much longer do you think you can hold on?"

"Couple weeks at the most."

Urahara smiled bitterly. "Enough about you, how's your brother?"

He grimaced. "I don't know. He's been different. Staying up late, sleeping in more, taking to drinking more blood and stuff like that. Not to mention his increased aggression. Ichigo doesn't seem to think much is wrong with himself. He's trying to act normal, but I can tell something's off."

"He's most likely scared. You're scared too."

"I know." Shiro's shoulders dropped slightly.

Finished filling the flask, Kisuke poured a separate glass and handed it to the albino. Now serious, he said "When did this all start?"

Gratefully accepting the offered blood, he thought for a second. "About a week ago or so..."

• x x X * X x x •

Ichigo laid flat on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was tired, but was too awake to actually sleep. Irrational fear gripped his heart as countless 'What-ifs' raced through his mind.

'_What if Shiro loses it? What if I lose it? What if I'm not just going unstable? What if it's something worse?'_

Even more worrying to him, was the unknown cause of the sudden changes. It had started about a week ago, right after he saved Rukia.

Right after his brother bit him...

His body went rigid, eyes suddenly wide as his left arm went numb.

Byakuya's voice seemed to ring in his ears: _"You should be careful, make sure you got all the venom out."_

He hesitantly raised his left arm, afraid of what he might find.

His veins and arteries were filled with a deep purple liquid. Pulsing slightly just under his skin.

"So you've finally noticed."

The monotone voice shook Ichigo from his panicked state, and he quickly brought himself to a sitting position. There was only one person who he knew that sounded like that, only one person who could appear suddenly like that and seemingly make the air in the room feel twice as heavy as it should: The District Leader.

He glared up at the person in front of him: pale skin, long black hair, dark streaks running down each cheek from his emotionless green eyes..

"What are you talking about, _Ulquiorra?_" Ichigo said defensively.

The Leader stared at him, his eyes unreadable. "You lack respect, Ichigo Kurosaki. And that question is foolish. You've been so focused on your brother that you have barely noticed your own self-control slipping."

Ichigo simply narrowed his eyes, mentally arguing against the man in front of him.

"I believe I had asked to meet with you a week ago." He held up the letter he had written and sent with Shiro.

"I've been busy." Ichigo grumbled.

Ulquiorra merely stared, unblinking, at the teen. "Is that so?" Ulquiorra brought his thumb, pricking it on his fang. A drop of blood slid from the wound.

Ichigo watched the unusually dark liquid drip from the man's hand. He blinked, his eyes instantly turning yellow. A jolt of pain ran through his arm as his chest tightened.

"Pathetic." The District Leader said, noticing the shift in the teen's demeanor. "Come. We have things to discuss." He tightly grabbed the teens wrist, ignoring the growl of protest, and quickly swiped his bleeding thumb across the other's forearm.

"_Ulquiorra!_" Ichigo roared, but his cry was cut off as his vision flashed white and he suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar, ornately decorated room.

"Sit." Ulquiorra directed his attention to one of the many plush velvet chairs.

"I'd rather stand." He said. "Just tell me what you want, and why you brought me here.'

The dark haired man blinked slowly. "I do not think you are in any position to question my authority. _Sit._"

Ichigo hesitantly obeyed, glaring all the while.

The door opened revealing a pink-haired, bespectacled vampire. Odd purple markings surrounded his left eye. He was holding a silver pitcher and smiling slyly. The heavy scent of blood hit Ichigo's nose almost and, instantly, his self-control started to deteriorate.

"Do not try to fight against it, you will only die faster." The Vampire said, pouring a cup full of the thick liquid. Once done, he handed it to the Half-blood.

Ulquiorra watched as the teen seemed to be at war with himself. "Take it. You do realize what is happening to you, right? You starved yourself for so long and learned to ignore the pain of the withdrawal for seven years. But then you drank, and the need for more is killing you. Your body will not hold up if you refuse."

Ichigo stared at the cup offered to him, knowing that Ulquiorra was right, refusal was impossible. He could hold off for maybe five minutes, but knew that even that was pushing it. _'If I don't take it, I'm gonna die. If I do take it... I don't even know what will happen at this point, but it won't be good.'_ With a shaky hand, he reached out and grasped the cup. Only halfway thinking about what he was actually doing, he accepted the drink offered to him and took a sip.

The pleasure flooded him; his need for blood sated for a second before flaring up again, stronger than before. He bared his fangs in an expression somewhere between a grin and a snarl, and, locking his glittering gold eyes on Ulquiorra, hissed out a single word:

"_More._"

• x x X * X x x •

"Ichigo!" Shiro yelled as soon as he opened the door. Not even slipping off his shoes, he ran to his brother's room _'I should have know... I should have realized earlier!'_ As he thought that, a shiver ran down his spine.

"Ichigo?" He called again, throwing open the bedroom door. A gust of heavy air rushed past him, followed by a sickly acrid scent. The room was empty.

'_No no no no'_

His eyes were drawn to a spot on the floor: a drop of blood, still fresh. Dabbing his finger in it, he brought it to his mouth to taste; grimacing at the sickly sweet flavour. A heavy weight seemed to press down on his shoulders and he cursed.

Without waiting another second, he ran out of the house and down the street. Arriving at the Kurosaki Clinic, he knocked frantically on the door. A few tense moments passed before his father opened the door.

Isshin was surprised at the sight of his distressed son.

"Dad..." Shiro spoke frantically between panting breaths. "Ichigo... They've taken him- He's gone and it's my fault and I need to go after him and help and I need to talk to you-"

"Woah woah..." Isshin put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Calm down and come inside."

"_How can I be calm!?_" Shiro snapped. A hint of black flickered in the corner of his eye, his voice wavering with a dangerous echo.

In an instant, Isshin's hand was around Shiro's throat, thumb pressing into the pressure point under his son's jaw. Shiro's dilated pupils shrunk back to normal as he wheezed out a shaky apology.

"S-sorry... sorry. I just-"

"I understand." Isshin said softly, dropping his hand. "I understand. Now, come inside explain what's going on then we can decide-"

"No. We don't have time for that. I just came from Urahara's. Call him after I leave. He knows what's going on. He can explain better than I can." Shiro said softly. "I already know what I needs done." He tried to ignore the look of worry in his dad's eyes.

"Shiro... then... why are you here?" He asked, afraid that he knew the answer.

A weary grin spread across the teen's face. "To ask for the car. I'm going after him."

* * *

So I haven't posted in a while, but I'm glad to see that a lot of you are still interested in this story!

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo

I hope you enjoyed reading. Comments, critiques, and questions are always appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

The first streaks of dawn were starting to light the sky, birdsong breaking the silence.

Shiro sat on the hood of the green car he had borrowed from his dad. A sigh hissed through his teeth as he felt the sun already beginning to affect him.

Shiro sat on the hood of the green car he had borrowed from his dad, absent-mindedly tapping his fingers on the cool metal. A sigh hissed through his teeth as he felt the sun already beginning to affect him. He glanced down at his phone for the time. Rukia was running late.

He was just about to unscrew the top of his flask when he heard someone approach him. He looked over at the short, black-haired girl. A long object wrapped in a blanket was tucked under her arm. He raised an eyebrow at it, but didn't otherwise didn't acknowledge it.

Rukia slowed, her heart beating loudly in her chest. Shiro had called her earlier saying only that Ichigo was in trouble and he needed her help.

"You know I'm deliberately disobeying my brother by coming here, right?" Rukia stamped her foot semi-impatiently. In truth, she was trying to hide her fear: Shiro's eyes were flickering like candles between red and gold. "Now. Would you mind telling me exactly what is going on?"

Ichigo is losing it fast and now he's kidnapped and if we don't go to save him-" He cut his sentence off, not entirely sure now to say more on the matter.

Rukia quickly understood the weight of the problem, and her heart sank further. "Kidnapped? Where? By who?"

"The District Leader, Ulquiorra. He's in charge of all the vampire clans in this area." Shiro ran a hand through his hair, grimacing when his fingers frustratingly got tangled in small knots and snarls. "Listen, I'll explain it all in the car, just-"

"Why?" Rukia interrupted.

Shiro raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Why are you asking me to come along?"

"Because I need a Hunter with me to do this."

It was now Rukia's turn to raise an eyebrow. "A Hunter? I'm not a Hunter. Isn't your dad one? Why not bring him?"

"He's on suspension. His powers are sealed right now. I would take Urahara, but everyone outside of my family thinks he's dead and he wants to keep it that way. Your brother is out of the question, so that leaves you."

"But I'm not a Hunter-"

"It runs in your blood though."

"I can't-"

"Then go home." Shiro stated plainly, locking eyes with Rukia.

Her breath caught in her throat with the intensity of his glare and an odd pressure seemed to suddenly fall upon her shoulders. "W-what?" She stammered out, suddenly fearful.

Shiro continued in a soft monotone. "This will be dangerous. I know I asked you to come here, but if you can't take it, then I suggest going home quickly."

Almost dream-like, Rukia felt her body start to take a step back, all the while keeping uncomfortably steady eye-contact with Shiro. In her mind, she was arguing against herself, weighing the options: 'You're in way over your head, this is dangerous, just leave. But... Ichigo. He's in trouble, and it seems bad. I can't just leave my friend.'

Making up her mind, she took a defiant step forward. "No. If I can help Ichigo, then I will."

Shiro stepped back and blinked a few times, smirking. "Good. Told you there was Hunter blood in you."

Rukia shook her head as the odd feeling passed. "Wha-?"

"Vampiric charm doesn't work on you. I was really trying my hardest to make you leave. It didn't work on you at all."

"Was that what that odd feeling was?" She said mostly to herself, but apparently loud enough for him to hear.

Shiro smirked "If you were any ordinary person, it would have been more than just an 'odd feeling.' I could have snapped your willpower like a toothpick."

"You can do that!?"

"Well yeah… I can't feed on random strangers while they're screaming for help and trying to get away or something. Gotta do something to keep them quiet." He laughed. "Just try to avoid eye contact when we get there.

Rukia picked up the blanket-wrapped object that she had unknowingly dropped. "Does it hurt, being bitten?"

He paused for a second, thinking the question over. "I don't know. I've never experienced it." Shiro responded, opening the car door. He paused and, in a much more somber tone, said, "Really though, this is dangerous. We're going to be basically breaking into the the District Headquarters. Even when we find Ichigo, I don't know what shape he'll be in. I can't promise that he's not about to topple off the edge of sanity. He probably won't be thinking rationally enough to distinguish friend from foe."

"You don't think he'll recognize us at all?"

He shook his head and heaved a sigh. "I'm hoping he does."

"Is that why you want me to come along?"

"That, and I would really appreciate the company." He offered a brief but genuine smile.

Sympathy shot through Rukia at Shiro's concern for his brother. Followed by mind shock at the fear glinting in his eyes.

"Well then," Rukia walked past Siro and over to the vehicle. "What are we waiting for?

He smirked in response as they got in the car and started driving, sticking to the main roads as the traffic had yet to really start up.

At a light, he stopped and glanced at his passenger. "One more thing, Rukia, take these." He handed her two syringes filled with clear liquid.

"What is it?"

"Special type of sedative. You'll probably be ok, but if you're attacked by a vampire, use it. Even if it's me."

"Why would you attack me?"

Shiro sighed, "Because I'm unstable." seeing her confused look, he scratched the back of his head. "Ah where to begin. So you know we are half-bloods, and as cool as it, it has a few downsides. In the course of our lives, we shift between our two halves; sometimes more human, sometimes more vampire."

"Like a swinging pendulum?" Rukia interrupted.

"No. It's so irregular and jarring. There's no rhythm to it, the switch just happens pretty much whenever it feels like it. Anyway, it's the transition between the two that's the hardest. We call it 'going unstable'. Some half-bloods live their whole life and hardly go unstable, then there are people like me that seems to have a target painted on their back. ' It happens in little bursts where I'll just lose control. That's what happened when we first met. Sorry about that, you just caught me at a bad time."

Rukia regarded him warily.

He glanced over at Rukia and added, "Don't worry, I'm ok for right now. Anyway, there's only two ways out- well three if you count death as an option. You can try to wait it out and run the risk of insanity if you're not strong enough to fight it. Or you can settle down and become fully vampire or human."

"So why haven't you done that?"

Shiro mumbled, "Because I can't. Neither can Ichigo. We've already messed things up enough as it is." Seeing Rukia's confusion, he decided to start from the beginning. "Ichigo and I used to be, well, different than we are now. When it comes to half-bloods, we're always twins. And the older twin always holds more power than the younger. Ichigo is older than me."

"But wouldn't that mean that he's-"

"Closer to being a full vampire than me? Yes, or it would, but as I said: we messed things up. We traded powers seven years ago, but the District doesn't know about it. If that choice is made, by law, Ichigo would become a vampire and I would become human. Making a decision like that would most likely kill us both. And if he did survive the change, him mind would be wrecked."

'Ichigo is older than him? Traded powers? Why?' Rukia thought, surprised and confused. She had never really thought too much about it, but she had just assumed that Ichigo was younger. "Can you do anything about it?"

"Yes, I did try to find a way around the rule; that's where everything went wrong."

• x x X * X x x •

"You never gave me a real reason for why you did not answer my summons." Ulquiorra spoke softly, green eyes watching the bright-haired teen seated across from him.

"I told you." Ichigo said, speech somewhat slurred, "I was busy." He took another sip from the cup in front of him. Szayel Aporro promptly filled it full again.

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed fractionally. "Fool. You believe you can lie to me?"

"I've told you before. I'm not joinin' a darn clan!" Ichigo snarled in sudden anger, slamming his fist down on the arm of the chair. The wood creaked in protest. "I don't care if Shinji is moving again. Shiro and I aren't gettin' involved in one of your stupid turf wars." Ichigo was breathing heavily, his sudden anger made only worse by the lack of sound in the room. He had always hated the fact that Vampires had no heartbeat. It was all too silent.

"You already are involved."

"What do you mean by that?" Ichigo muttered, taking another sip.

"Your brother came to me a few weeks ago."

"You summoned him. He had to show up."

"Is that what he told you? He came of his own free will." Ulquiorra stood and walked around the table, standing in between Ichigo and his cup of blood. The teen looked noticeably annoyed. "Yoshiro-"

"Shiro."

Ulquiorra continued, ignoring the interruption, "-came asking for a favor. He was trying to find a loophole around the Half-Blood law."

"But... He said you were trying to enlist him." Ichigo shut his eyes, trying to ignore the growing sense of dread. His head was pounding and making it difficult to think.

"He was asking to join."

"No... Stop... Shiro- He wouldn't. _He can't!_"

"Why should I stop? I am simply informing you of the current state of affairs."

"He wouldn't. He has to be planning something." A sudden pressure filled the room as Ichigo struggled against the wave of emotions. Nearly shoving Ulquiorra out of the way, he grabbed the cup in front of him and downed it, letting his mind go fuzzy and blank.

• x x X * X x x •

"So you went to this District Leader to be turned into a full Vampire? Why?"

Shiro cursed as a crazy driver pulled around him, cutting him off. "Shinji and his clan are getting ready to leave, they never stay around long. When they do go, there'll be a power struggle. Territory is everything to Vampires; everyone will want to claim the open spot as their own. And, with their base right at the edge of two districts, it could result in all-out war. Since we're not affiliated with any clan, everyone wants at least one of us on their side. Ulquiorra of course wants Ichigo to join, because he's older. If I became a full Vampire, they would leave Ichigo alone."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

Shiro sighed, "I tried a few times but I kept getting interrupted. Besides, he would never let me go through with it."

"Is it what you want?"

The question caught Shiro off guard and he considered lying before realizing there was no point. "No. But it's probably for the best. Ichigo has been scared of that side of himself since he was nine. As for me, well, I need to do something to prevent myself from losing it completely. And with Ulquiorra breathing down our necks, I don't really se that I have a choice."

"Don't give up yet. After we get Ichigo back- because we _are_ getting him back- we could probably make a good enough case to the Hunters. They might be able to stop this Ulquiorra guy from bothering you. I'll vouch for you, they'll listen to me." Rukia offered.

"Yeah," Shiro smiled softly, "maybe.'

Finally reaching the edge of the city, Shiro turned out onto the highway.

A few minutes of silence passed.

"So what exactly is happening to Ichigo? Is he going unstable too? Is that why all this is happening?"

"Not exactly." Shiro's lips twisted into a frown. "It's really all my fault. I mean... I didn't intend for any of this to happen. It all really started the day we met. Or maybe it started a bit before that, but that was sure the catalyst of it all. How much do you remember from that day?"

"Not much. I actually thought I had dreamed the whole thing up until Ichigo convinced me it was real. The most I remember is him... snapping your neck," she finished quietly. She was still uneasy with the idea of her friend technically killing someone, even if Shiro was okay.

"Yeah. And before he did that, I bit into his arm." Shiro felt his stomach roll with guilt and shame. "It's not the first time it happened, but everything just went wrong this time."

• x x X * X x x •

"Master Cifer," Szayel set down the pitcher of blood as Ichigo's dark eyes fluttered closed again. "Might I ask why the Kurosaki boy is here?"

Ulquiorra stared blankly at said teen as Ichigo's head lolled off to the side. "He's joining us."

"Oh? I thought his brother was; the pale one." He glanced at Ichigo.

"Ichigo is older. I'd rather not go against the law. Besides, this boy is already on his way to changing; his brother bit him and injected venom. It shouldn't be long now."

Szayel's glasses glinted as he smirked slightly, peering down at the teen's purple veins "Oh dear. So his brother did this to him?"

"No." Ulquiorra finally looked away from the now unconscious teen and continued in a monotone. "Ichigo was fairly efficient in draining the poison from the wound, He didn't get all of it, but under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been enough to trigger a reaction like this. Most likely he was already beginning to become unstable, and the venom acted as an accelerator. However, there were more factors that contributed to this."

"You're talking about his drinking, aren't you?" The pink haired man, looked at the cup of blood the teen had been drinking from.

"Yes. He starved himself for so long, he doesn't know how to deal with his thirst anymore."

• x x X * X x x •

"So basically it was a lot of coincidences that lead to this." Shiro explained.

"Maybe a coincidence will fix it?"

A dark laugh escaped Shiro's lips, sending chills down Rukia's spine. "When coincidences get you into trouble, that's just bad luck. When they get you out of trouble, it's called a miracle. And miracles don't happen. And certainly not twice."

"Twice? This has happened before!?" Rukia shifted in her seat to look at Shiro.

"Not exactly like this, but seven years ago he almost lost it."

"Seven years ago—you keep mentioning that. Why did you trade powers? What happened?"

"Our mom died." the air in the car turned thick and cold. "Ichigo and I we were playing in the park when we were attacked by a Hunter. I don't know why he did it, he probably just hated us." His eyes darkened with frightful anger, "Our mom jumped in front of his sword to save us. We saw the whole thing. Ichigo... he couldn't take it. I've never seen him like that. He would have killed that man if our dad hadn't shown up; and then Ichigo would have died if Urahara hadn't happened to have been walking nearby at that moment. Ichigo's own powers were destroying him. We needed to get rid of them so…"

"So you took them."

"Pretty much, yeah. Somehow I could handle it better than he could. Like I said, he's scared of that side of himself. He wants to be normal."

The silence stretched on as the two watched the road. Rukia wanted to say something. She, afterall, also knew the pain of losing parents; granted, they both died almost when she was too young to even remember them, but nothing seemed appropriate to say so she kept her mouth shut as they drove farther from home.

* * *

I know, I haven't published anything in forever. Thank you to all who are still actually reading this. I promise I do actually have an idea of what I'm doing. Here's a bonus extra scene:

"What happened to the Hunter that attacked you?" Ruck asked.

Shiro shrugged. "I dunno. I heard he died about a year later during a recon mission or something, I never learned exactly what happened. I think his name was Aizen or something."

Thanks for reading! Comments, critiques, and questions are always appreciated.


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